


Songs on the Radio

by Kettle_Fish



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Drama, F/M, Fighting, Fluff, I just throw human characters into this without regard for continuity or time period, Implied abusive relationships, M/M, Period-Typical Sexism, Romance, Shippy, Slow Burn, Swearing, There's like... actual plot in this bad boy, Xenophobia, canon compliant mostly, original characters only as background characters out of necessity, period-typical homophobia from some characters, specifically for starscream's trine relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:06:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 73,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26834917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kettle_Fish/pseuds/Kettle_Fish
Summary: Two years after Bumblebee left Brighton Falls for good, Charlie is trying to move on with her life. She's doing well in school, practising hard to become a mechanic, and even enrolling to attend college in the Fall.But just as it seems she's going to have a normal life, the Decepticons arrive on Earth. She's forced to leave her home and thrust into a new world of uncertainty, peril, and new feelings. Charlie and her friends have to adjust quickly or risk falling dangerously behind.The Decepticons are greedy, the Autobots are stubborn, and the humans are swept up into the middle of it. What more could you want?
Relationships: Bumblebee/Charlie Watson, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Ron Watson/Sally Watson
Comments: 57
Kudos: 91





	1. Time Heals (most) Wounds

**Author's Note:**

> Canon compliant except Bumblebee stays a Volkswagen beetle at the end of the film 'cos I think it's cuter.
> 
> ::text like this is internal comms/pings/messages between the characters:: 
> 
> Setting notes:  
> The Autobots on Earth have very little in the way of technology since they arrived with only the pods they came in and any possessions they had on them at the time.  
> Real energon was mined into eradication on Cybertron and is a rarity in the universe, so the transformers mostly get by on synthetic or even organic fuel.

Charlie spun on her heel and drifted back to the kitchen counter, rescuing a cup from the sink as she passed. She rinsed the cup quickly and slotted it into place beneath the coffee machine with a soft click. 

Her hand idly traced the side of the small black machine. Following the little ridges in the metal with her fingertips. The slight dents that much larger fingers left behind… No.

She shook her head and turned away from the coffee machine. Ignoring its little whirs, and faced the doorway.

Charlie leaned back against the counter, and fished a sugar cube out of a little bowl beside her. She rolled it through her fingers absentmindedly and watched her brother’s messy mop of hair over the back of the couch. Innocently distracted by his Saturday morning cartoons. 

The perfect target. 

She whipped her hand forward, sending the small sweet projectile in an arc across the room to smack right into the back of her brother’s head. 

“Ow!” Otis spun around in his seat, glowering, as Conan leapt from his lap and after the stray sugar cube on the floor. “What was that for?!”

Charlie grabbed her coffee out from underneath the machine, “You gotta have breakfast. Mom will go nuts if she finds out you just watched cartoons all morning.” 

Otis pouted, but dutifully slid off the couch and into the kitchen, grumbling under his breath. He reached up into an overhead cabinet and poured himself some cereal before plopping down at the table next to her. 

He made a face as he watched his sister stir far too many sugar cubes into her morning coffee. “Blegh. How can you drink that stuff? It looks like tar.”

“Me?” Charlie cocked an eyebrow, glancing down at his breakfast. To say its nutritional value went into the negative would have been an understatement. “You’re certainly one to talk.”

Otis kicked her under the table, she lifted her coffee away into the air to stop it from spilling. She scowled and scuffed her own shoe back against his leg.  
The two siblings engaged in a mini foot war for a minute before Otis noticed his cereal getting soggy and hurriedly returned to it. 

Charlie brought the coffee cup to her lips. So far, it was shaping up to be a perfect lazy weekend day. Maybe she’d even invite Memo to hang out later. It would be fun to chill with her best friend. Her best friend besides… Well.

She took another sip of coffee to hide her grimace.

Otis poked at his cereal with his spoon, stirring the flakes around into a sugary mush. He spoke up in a quiet voice. “Charlie?” 

“Mm?”

“Do you…” He trailed off. “Do you miss him?”

Charlie froze. She cleared her throat and lowered her cup back to the table. “What do you mean?” 

Otis shifted uncomfortably. A rare moment of solidarity between the two siblings. “Um, I know it's only been a few months since the whole ‘big battle thing’, and you didn’t know him very long. But… you hardly talk about him. Like, at all. Do you… still miss him?” 

Charlie closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Her chair creaked a bit as she leant backwards.

Of course she missed him. But she couldn’t think about that. If she did, she’d get all sad and gloomy, and that was simply unacceptable. She had other things to focus on. School and life and her future and she didn’t have time to wallow. The world wouldn’t stop, he wouldn’t stop, just because she was feeling a little lonely. She knew she made the right choice.

“Yeah.” She smiled weakly. “Yeah, I do.”

Otis looked up at his big sister, the uncertainty clear in his eyes. “Oh. Good. Well, not ‘good’ I guess, I just, I thought… I don’t know.”

“Yeah.” 

It can’t be helped, she told herself. 

x-x-x

It had almost been a full year, and she was tired of it.

Tired of the pitying looks from her family. Tired of the way her heart raced whenever she saw a yellow paint job, she even got tired of her corvette. It was beautiful, but every time she drove it, it felt just a little more like an imitation of the real thing.

After the adrenaline of those few weeks with Bumblebee, the rush of adventure and excitement, Her normal life just felt empty.

So, she kept up with the news obsessively. Combing through all the papers and magazines she could get her hands on, trying to find something, anything, about where he was now. 

She found almost nothing.

Anything she did find was almost always the work of some lone individual, misreported and written through the haze of a few too many happy pills and inclined to conspiracy.  
Charlie snorted at that. As if giant alien robots were working for some kind of evil snake people! Although… she didn’t really know all that much about Bumblebee or his friends, so she couldn’t entirely rule it out.

Mostly, Charlie assumed Sector 7 was covering up any news about her friend, the government trying in vain to control something completely out of their control.

Charlie smiled piteously to herself. However he was doing it, he was improving at the ‘in disguise’ part, so she couldn’t really begrudge him for that. Staying off the radar was keeping him safe (or safer) after all.

x-x-x

Bumblebee dodged another laser blast and rolled behind a moss-covered boulder, pressing his back flush with the stone. He flipped his arm over his shoulder and transformed his fist into a blaster, firing a few shots back towards the firefight. With practised ease, he let loose shot after shot. Aim, fire. Aim, fire. Just like clockwork. 

A Decepticon drone rushed towards him from the darkness between the trees and he fired again. One round taking out the drone’s legs, then another to the head. The drone collapsed.  
As it fell, it threw a little gift of its own, sailing through the air to land perfectly on the ground in front of Bumblebee.

Bumblebee cursed and dove back behind cover.

He felt the hot flush of fire as his cover burst into flames, the shockwave from the explosion sending him skidding away. Bumblebee felt his pedes dig into the dirt as he tried to slow his tumble. Crunching and grinding stone and dirt into his gears. He hissed in pain as something in his leg snapped. 

He rolled into a crouch, then kicked himself up and leapt forward. With an angry buzz, he transformed into his Volkswagen mode and raced back into the chaos.

He hit a fallen tree like a ramp and jumped up into the air, flinging his body out of alt mode to come crashing down on top of another drone. He curled back a fist and punched through the drone’s faceplate. The drone’s glass visor shattered everywhere, splintering into its optics. The drone shrieked in pain and shoved at Bumblebee on top of him. 

The drone scrabbled at Bumblebee’s face with its fingers, clawing at the metal. Bumblebee pinned it to the ground with his shoulder. He levelled his blaster. Hot blue energy tore through the drone’s chest plates, and the lifeless corpse sagged underneath him.

“Bumblebee! MOVE!”

Bumblebee curled and rolled out of the way as a tangle of metal limbs and bodies rolled past him. A large golden Autobot wrestled a drone’s head down into the dirt and stomped on his neck cabling. The drone screamed, then fell silent. 

The Autobot stood up, panting, and flashed a smug grin at Bumblebee. “I’m at three. You?”

Bumblebee cocked his hip and stuck four triumphant fingers in the air. The sound of a stadium cheering played out from his radio. 

The golden Autobot rolled his optics with a sneer. “Ratchet fixed your vocoder, you aft. The least you could do is gloat properly.” 

Bumblebee just buzzed a laugh back at him, amping up the stadium cheering louder. 

Abruptly, the sounds of gunshots in the forest ahead of them cut off. Heavy footsteps echoed from further within the trees and another, much larger, figure emerged from the smoke.

Bumblebee and the other Autobot straightened, saluting. “Optimus! Sir!” The golden bot called. Bumblebee buzzed a greeting as well. 

A gigantic blue and red mech walked out in front of them, picking his way calmly across the forest floor.

“At ease, soldiers.” His voice was a deep, commanding baritone. Rough and weary, but practically dripping with authority.

The golden Autobot dropped his salute but stayed ready at attention. “Sir, now that we have disposed of the drones-”

Bumblebee whooped. The golden bot glared at him. “-the area is secure, correct?

“Indeed, Sunstreaker.” Optimus nodded in confirmation, “Although unfortunately their ship and technology were rendered unsalvageable during the battle. It appears we will have to go a little bit longer without proper supplies.”

The scout and warrior exchanged a frustrated glance. They'd have to go even more time without Cybertronian tech, scraping by on what little they could borrow from the humans.

“Regardless,” He continued, “This was a battle well fought. Well done soldiers.”

Bumblebee’s spark lifted a little at the praise and he gave a small, relieved hum. 

Optimus looked up at the canopy of the forest above them, watching the small patches of night sky above that could be seen through the leaves. He sighed heavily. 

“Come, let us return to the others. We will have more opportunities in the future.”

Sunstreaker snorted and turned away, already stomping his way back through the bush.  
“Ha! Of course we will! The ‘cons will never leave us alone!”

Bumblebee was inclined to agree. He turned to follow, and scrubbed a servo over his chest plates, trying to ignore the sudden discomfort that had bloomed there. 

x-x-x

Eventually, it wore her down. She burnt herself out with worry and just stopped checking the news. Stopped obsessing over every alien theorist column and let it all drift away. Focusing on the here and now. Throwing herself into her work and her studies, preparing for university entrance exams and the future.

She was here, and this was now. This is what mattered most.

x-x-x

The week after her 19th birthday, she got a letter in the mail.  
Charlie pushed the letterbox closed with her hip and walked the drive. She thumbed through the letters as she approached the front step, skipping past the ever-growing stack of bills and spam until she reached one with her name on it. 

The keys slipped out of the lock as she caught sight of the crest emblazoned on the front of the letter, and her name printed in neat blue ink on the front of the envelope. She cursed and fumbled with the door to open it, before rushing into the kitchen. Her eyes still glued to the slip of paper and her heart jackrabbiting in her chest. 

She threw the rest of the paper on the table, and called out “Mom? Ron? I’m home!”

“Oh! Welcome home, honey!” Her mom’s voice called out from the back of the house, and a moment later Sally appeared, holding a laundry basket full of clean clothing and smiling tiredly at Charlie. “How was school?”

“...Fine. But Mom, look what came in the mail.” Charlie passed her the letter, still unopened, and Sally placed the laundry on the ground before taking it .

She read over the address and sender and grinned at Charlie. “So, the university finally got back to you huh? Are you gonna open it?”

Charlie could feel the anxiety start to pool in the bottom of her stomach as she took the letter back from her mom. Her stomach twisted at the thought of what it might contain. 

Sally frowned. “Charlie, You’ve gotta open it sometime. The longer you put it off the worse the suspense will be.”

The teen nodded mutely and sat down at the kitchen table, staring at the letter. 

It felt like years, she was sitting there. Staring at the stark white paper on the dark wooden surface of the kitchen table. Thoughts flitted through her head rapidly, each full of worse and worse resolutions. What if it was a rejection? And they didn’t want to take Charlie as a student after all. What if they told her that she was unqualified and unsuited to engineering? That she should look for another interest? What if she was so terrible it was a lifetime ban, a restraining order, an official notice from the University stating she was on a watch list?!

But… What if they said yes?

A stab of pain shot through her palms and she realised with a start that she’d been clenching them. Her fingernails had dug into the soft flesh hard enough to leave small red cuts in the skin. She mentally shook herself and reached forward to take the letter. That small, unassuming letter. Full of promise and potential. Contents that could shape the way the rest of her life panned out. Deceptively packaged up in innocent paper and print.

The top of the envelope slid open easily as she ran her thumb underneath it, and she pulled it open to fish the paper itself out. Charlie held it with an iron grip, crinkling the page at the corners as she frantically skimmed over the writing. 

Her heart jumped in her chest again, but this time for a very different reason. And she jumped up out of her seat. The kitchen chair toppled over behind her but at the moment she didn’t care, throwing her arms up in the air and whooping. 

Charlie hopped up and down giddily, hugging the paper to her chest. She saw her mom enter the room and she jumped on her, sweeping her mom into a hug in the middle of the kitchen. 

Sally laughed, hugging her daughter back. “Good news then?”

Charlie grinned so hard she felt like her cheeks would tear apart. She had direction. Purpose. She had the next steps for the rest of her life. She hugged her mom tighter as if she could squeeze the joy into her. “The best!” 

x-x-x

Bumblebee exvented in exasperation and thunked his head into the ground, weak moonlight from a window somewhere washing his yellow plating into a soft creme. He pulled up a map on his HUD and studied it again, as he so often did. 

He clawed his fingers into the dirt. It wouldn’t take that long to drive there, a few days at most... Not for the first time, he cursed Optimus for setting up base so far away. 

He shuddered and swiftly deleted that train of thought, then flipped over on his side onto the ground and curled into a ball. His processor groaned at him to get a grip and go into recharge, but he couldn’t. 

Bumblebee let out a low buzz, mournful and sad. He replayed the memory file of the last time they’d been together. His silent promise to protect her. A promise he couldn’t voice when he had to leave her, but one he desperately hoped she understood anyway.  
She had wanted him to go, so he went. 

He screwed his optics shut and folded himself into his alt mode. His processor finally taking over and overriding his conscious protocols, forcing him to rest.

Forcing himself not to worry about the dread curling in his spark, when he thought of his friend out there. Unprotected. Without him.

x-x-x 

Starscream inspected his digits idly, running a sharp claw tip over the edge of each one. He tutted and scratched at a loose chip of paint, digging out the imperfection from a seam.

When he finished, he flexed his fingers and levelled a foul glare over his desk at the two bots opposite him. 

Skywarp and Thundercracker shared a nervous glance. Their wings pinned back as far as they could go, trembling slightly. 

“Well?” Starscream demanded.

The three mecha sat in Starscream's office. It was a wide and open room with plenty of space for the three fliers, even if they wanted to stretch out. Between them sat a sturdy desk, stacked with haphazard datapads full of half-made battle plans. On the far wall was a large window looking out into the vastness of space and giving a fantastic view of the nearby stars as they sailed past. 

It was by far the best room on board, as was only fitting for the commander of a Decepticon warship. 

The purple jet opened his mouth, but only squeaked as his intake seized, spitting static in an embarrassing cough. He looked over at Thundercracker pleadingly.

Thundercracker sighed, “The dispatch of drones successfully reached Shatter and Dropkick’s last known location, and began scouting immediately upon landfall.” He began.

“But…” He shifted awkwardly in his seat, rubbing a servo along the back of his neck cabling, “We lost contact shortly after. They were not able to confirm the location of Prime. Or, any useful information really.”

Starscream’s chair shrieked as he stood abruptly, leaning forward over the desk and glaring at his trinemates. His perfectly manicured claws dug harshly into the table, cutting into the metal with an ominous creak.

“B-but!” Skywarp jumped in, “The mission wasn’t a total failure! The drone’s ship took a bunch of scans and readings as it landed - and this planet has some really weird stuff on it!”

Starscream growled.

Skywarp continued, oblivious to his commanders rapidly thinning patience. “Its got organics, a biosphere, a water cycle, volcanoes-”

An awful screech echoed through the room as Starscream dragged his talons down the table, leaving deep scratches in the surface. Skywarp and Thundercracker clapped their servos over their audials, wincing. 

“Starscream, that planet...” Thundercracker pulled his servos down and looked up at his leader slowly. “It also has energon.”

Starscream straightened with a start, causing both Skywarp and Thundercracker to flinch. 

“That’s impossible.” He scoffed. “Energon is exceedingly rare. No one has seen more than traces of it in hundreds of thousands of years.” 

He turned away from the others, staring out of the window and into the cold void of space. His voice lowered in contemplation. “You shouldn't lie to try and gain favour with me, Thundercracker. Since Cybertron was depleted, only a handful of worlds have held energon. And that disgusting mudball isn't special.”

Thundercracker stood up too and walked around the desk to his commander. He reached out tentatively, digits hovering just over Starscream's arm.  
His red optics searching the other mech’s face, desperately trying to gauge his reaction. “That’s what we thought too but, well, readings like those don’t lie.”

A silly, naive thought. But still, Starscream's strategy subroutines started to chew on the possibility. The potential...

“We even double-checked with Shockwave!” Skywarp chimed in.

Starscream bristled and snapped his gaze back to the room. His pulsed a wave of frustration across their spark bond. “You idiots! Next time, you come to me first!”

He slapped Thundercracker’s arm away, and the blue jet recoiled, hurt flashing briefly in his field before he smothered it. 

Starscream sneered and grabbed the two mechs by their collar fairings, tugging them across the room. “Great job. Now get out of my sight!” 

He pushed them into the hallway roughly, watching with satisfaction as their wing kibble smacked painfully together. 

Skywarp fell with a yelp, dragging Thundercracker down with him as he stumbled away from the commander's office. The two of them sprawled into the hallway, arms and legs tangled. 

The door shut with a harsh slam behind them. 

Starscream spun on his heel to face the large picture window at the back of his office. He regarded it thoughtfully, looking deep into space as the stars whizzed by.

“Energon, huh?”

He smirked and activated his comm.

::Navigation, this is Commander Starscream. We have a new heading::

x-x-x

Charlie groaned and threw herself backwards on Memo’s bed, dragging her free hand down her face in exasperation. Beside her, Memo cackled, watching with delight as her character bleeped out of existence for the fifth time in as many minutes. The little screen in front of them jeered along with him, playing a tinkly obnoxious song.

She wanted to put her boot right through the screen.

“Okay, okay.” He gasped, catching his breath and booting the level up again. “One more round. You’ll get it this time I promise.”

“No I won't!” Charlie propped herself up on her arms, turning to face him. She flung an arm out towards the television screen, “Look at those scores! They’re unfixable!”

“Hey! It’s not my fault you suck at video games!”

Charlie groaned again and shielded her eyes with her controller. Sinking deeper into the soft duvet that made up their temporary couch and gazing up at the roof thoughtfully.

Memo’s little room was the perfect place to hang out on a hot sunny afternoon. Plus, with her Mom, Ron and Otis away for the weekend it felt good to be around someone else. She smiled wryly. Conan was great, but he couldn’t make conversation for the life of him. 

So Memo’s room it was. Walls plastered with posters, stacks of comics littering the floor, and a small boxy television sitting against the wall. Narrow with a steep overhanging roof over the bed that they had to duck to avoid, but comfortable enough for an afternoon video gaming session. 

Intrinsically Memo. Nice, cosy. Safe.

But just a little too cosy for a couch. So whenever Charlie wanted to hang out with her best human friend, they had to make do with the bed and some slightly scrunched spines.

Memo, still grinning, patted her lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. You just need practice.”

The corners of Charlie’s mouth pulled up into a sly grin and she quirked an eyebrow. “Practice? Like how you’re always ‘practicing' trying to ask out that guy in our economics class?”

Memo yelped and almost slipped off the bed, his own character on screen nearly biting it too.  
He turned on her, blushing furiously. “How do you know about that!?”

Charlie took advantage of his distraction to finally hit Memo’s character back, savouring the sweet victory as his little pixel man fizzled off the screen. “Yes! FINALLY!”

“What the-” Memo spun back to the screen, swore, then spun back to Charlie. “-Charlie!?”

It was Charlie’s turn to cackle as she pulled herself back up to sitting, now level with Memo and his overly red face. “Oh, man, sorry, but you totally deserved that. Also, you aren't subtle. Like, at all. I have no idea how I'm the only one who's noticed.”

Memo seemed to calm down at that, his face going a slightly less intense shade of pink. He glanced away, mumbling. “Well, okay that’s… that’s probably pretty fair actually.” 

Charlie reached a hand up to his shoulder. “I’m also happy that now, I get to tease you about getting a boyfriend when you used to have a thing for me.”

Memo howled and pushed her clear off the bed. She hit the ground with a thud, laughing, her sides hurting. She wiped her eyes and watched as Memo’s own composure cracked before he also fell into a fit of laughter. 

He rolled his eyes and held a hand out to her. She took it, letting him pull her up and off of the floor until she stood giggling in the middle of Memo’s room. 

A small tremor rolled through the room, the little action figures lined up on the shelf above Memo’s bed shook then tumbled onto the floor. 

Charlie and Memo stiffened. 

Memo waited for the tremor to continue, and when it didn’t, shrugged. Smiling nervously. “Huh. Wasn't expecting an earthquake in the forecast today.” 

He started to make his way over to the shelf. “Those things always get me, but y’know they’re harmless-” Another tremor stuck, longer and harder, sending him falling to the floor with a yelp. 

Charlie stumbled backwards, unbalanced, and smacked her back against the wall. Her hand found the door handle and she yanked it open. The roof creaked ominously and the walls shook with the effort of staying together. 

Memo crawled across the carpet towards her, grabbing the doorframe and forcing himself upright. The two of them clutching at the door and trying desperately to stay upright.

When the tremor stopped, they made their way down the stairs and into the living room. The picture frames on the walls had slipped off, and had scattered across the floor underneath an upturned coffee table. Broken glass crunched under Charlie’s boots.

Memo laughed again, but his voice was strained. “Well okay, that was a little weirder.”

Charlie ignored him and began to make her way to the front door when another quake hit. Her breath caught as the terrible rolling feeling hit her stomach like a wave.

The whole house shook and groaned, the walls shuddering so much they almost rippled. The windows rattled in their frames, smashing themselves up against their holdings. Wooden beams above cried out in agony, splintering within the roof.  
Charlie’s heart leapt as she watched a long spidery crack shoot up through the wall beside her, climbing all the way up to the ceiling. Plaster dust began to drift down from above them like fine snow. 

“Charlie!” Memo yelled, his eyes wide and frantic. “We have to go!”

She nodded and began to stumble her way to the front door

As she rounded the couch, the windows exploded. A rain of glass bit into her exposed flesh even as her arm shot up to shield her face, covering her eyes. She had a precious moment to thank the universe that her hoodie kept most of the glass off, then the roof gave an ear-shattering screech and the world went black.

x-x-x

Starscream leaned over the commander’s chair of the ship, grinning with barely constrained excitement. He punched in another command code, and the working drones below typed faster at their screens to fulfil his new orders. 

The giant viewfinder at the front of the room was half eclipsed by the mudball as they soared through its atmosphere. Blue and green and absolutely littered with those disgusting organic creatures. Going about their pathetic little lives with no idea of the gold mine they were sitting on top of. 

But Starscream knew. And he also knew what to do with it. When this planet was finished with, Lord Megatron’s army would be unstoppable. Real fuel, not just synthetic slag, would be exactly what they needed to give them an edge. 

And of course, he smirked, Starscream would keep a generous portion for himself.  
Call it insurance.

x-x-x

Everything was grey and dark, the ground spinning before her eyes. An uncomfortably painful weight was resting heavily across her chest. Pinning her to the floor. Charlie looked up and noticed the roof, which was now much lower than before. She grunted and forced her numb body to push. Some of the weight above her shifted, exposing a small bright blue patch of sky.

The sudden light stung her eyes and she groaned, her head throbbing, vision blurring in and out of focus. She looked up dazedly, her mind only half processing any of it. 

Something smooth and dark was looming high in the sky, cutting through the clouds like a dagger. She frowned. That wasn’t normal.

Maybe it was a ship? Although it was a weird one. The love child between a science fiction novel and a nightmare. She watched in confusion as long spindly lines shot out from the (front?) and down to the ground. The world shook again, and the heavy weight on her chest increased. Slowly, the lines retracted, gradually pulling the ship forwards, the earthquake rumbling as the ship inched through the sky. 

She tried to force her eyes to focus. The ship was pointy and sharp, triangular, with a large insignia painted on the bottom.

Wait, Charlie tried to force her mind to wake back up. Her brain seductively telling her to close her eyes and stop thinking. Fighting back the fog, she tried to grab at her thoughts as they slipped away through her head.

That insignia It was the same one that Shatter and Dropkick had…

Her eyes widened, then fluttered, and she slumped back down into warm soft darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all settle in for the long haul, I Have Plans. Also, don't expect the notes to be professional because you'll be sorely disappointed, we vibe with ~chaos~ here.
> 
> Please note going forward that I don't live in the USA, so all my knowledge comes second-hand or from movies/tv. If I get something wrong please suspend belief and pretend this fic is set in an alternate universe where whatever I fucked up is fine lol
> 
> (also: I use UK spelling most of the time, and I might mix up some words sometimes. I try to catch it, but there may be the occasional University/College, Mum/Mom swap haha)


	2. I Saw You in a Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> italic text is radio/quotes from books or whatever :)  
> (or just a way to give emphasis to certain words, y'know, how we average joes usually abuse it lol)

Long yellow grass waved idly in the wind, twisting and dancing like ripples in a giant pond. In the center of the field, a small group of mecha made their way across. 

Optimus’ comm crackled to life in his audial, and he frowned deeply. Slowing to a stop, he held up his fist in a gesture to stop the rest of his team too. His EM field shrank and tucked in closer to his plating.

Bumblebee looked up at his leader and gave an inquisitive buzz.

“Autobots,” Optimus dropped his servo from his helm. “I have grave news.”

“A massive Deception signal has just entered the Earth's atmosphere.” He held out his left arm and transformed away a small section of the plating, exposing a holographic projector.

The projector spit static for a second before it resolved into a three-dimensional map of the Earth. A large purple dot was clearly shown moving slowly over the western seaboard.

“We must return to the others and seek shelter, it is only a matter of time before the Decepticons descend from their ship, and we cannot fight them in our current state.”

Bumblebee’s optics narrowed as he looked at the map, a nagging feeling tugging at his spark. He pulled up his own internal map and overlaid it with Optimus’ on his HUD. 

Optimus kept talking as he scrutinised the two. He zoomed in and enhanced, watching as the purple dot slid its way across the map. Closer and closer to another marker that Bumblebee himself had put there.

“-we will regroup and come up with a plan of defence later. For now, we must return to base.”

Spark in his intake, Bumblebee turned away. His servos shaking at his sides. He looked out over the golden field and towards the horizon. He couldn’t see it, but he knew that ship was out there. Looming over her.

Panic rose in his field and he began to march forward, away from the group and his prime. He squared his shoulders and began to transform when a loud deep voice called out from behind him. 

“Bumblebee! Halt!”

The scout jumped and spun back to face his leader, folding away his wheels. His plating itched to keep going, but he forced himself to wait.

The Prime took in the sight of Bumblebee’s tense frame, servos clenched and door wings shuddering.

With a wave, he dismissed the others to go ahead without them.  
.  
Turning back to the young scout, he knelt beside him, becoming level optic to optic. Optimus waited, one optic ridge raised expectantly. 

Bumblebee’s wheels twitched on his back and he shifted from pede to pede. “I… hAve to [KSCK] gO.” His voice crackled from disuse and he winced. 

It was a statement, not a question. Bumblebee set his field in hard determination and hoped his leader couldn’t sense the fear around him. 

Optimus looked deep into Bumblebee's optics, searching. The wind picked up and stirred the field around them into a frenzy, long blades of grass whipped against their ankle plating.

Bumblebee felt his tanks churn and he resisted the urge to fidget under his leader’s scrutiny. 

Abruptly, the prime nodded and stood up. Whatever he saw in the scout's optics apparently satisfying. He turned away from Bumblebee and took a few steps back across the field towards where the others disappeared over a hill.

He stopped one final time. "Do what you need to do. I trust you will find us again."

Bumblebee's shoulders sagged with relief and he gave a low buzz in confirmation. 

"Return safely, Bumblebee." Optimus rumbled, and he resumed his walk back over the hill and towards the rest of the Autobots.

Bumblebee squared his shoulders, launched himself into his Volkswagen mode, and took off through the field towards California.

x-x-x

His tires pounded against the road as he drove. For hours he’d driven far too fast for the speed limit, but still nowhere near fast enough. The feeling of harsh wind whipped past his bonnet and he urged his engine faster. 

His engine whined but picked up. Straining his pistons and cables just below breaking point, turning him into a yellow blur against the road. 

With a squeal of rubber, he turned sharply and found himself on a big wide motorway that stretched off into the horizon. 

On either side of the road stretched open acres of land, with small human houses dotted amongst the fields. The evening sun high in the sky staining it all a bright energon pink. Across from him was a thick concrete divider and over that a line of Earthen cars. 

Bumblebee slowed, his speedometer ticking down to a more reasonable amount, and he stared at the humans in those vehicles. The faces blurred as he passed, all merging into one long stream that fell away behind him. Eyes wide as they sat cramped in their cars and trying to flee.

As he drove past a red minivan, a little human boy stuck his small squishy hand onto the glass. His mouth arcing into a little ‘o’ of surprise when he noticed the VW beetle's vacant driver’s seat. 

Bumblebee shook himself and forced his attention back to his side of the motorway, where the asphalt was clear and uncluttered and away from the crawl of human cars. Where he was the only one on the road. The only idiot frantically gunning towards the danger. 

He flicked his radio on and it crackled to life inside his cab. Spitting static that stung his audials until he landed on a station. 

_“-as of now there are no new official reports on the Unidentified Flying Object flying low over California, however, eyewitnesses describe the craft as over a mile long and metallic in appearance.” _A woman’s voice said.__

____

____

The radio sputtered out and Bumblebee swerved sideways, raising his antenna higher to catch the signal again.

Static filled his cab and Bumblebee buzzed angrily. The sun had started to set and was dipping low in the sky, the air getting colder and colder as it fell. 

Bumblebee shivered and felt his spark throb painfully in his chassis. He pushed his tires deeper into the road, spitting up stones and dust in his wake. 

He tried to imagine a soft touch on his dashboard. The way small fingers would rub comforting circles into the leather of his steering wheel… 

That bright warm smile turning into a scream in the Decepticon’s clutches. 

His spark panged and he winced inwardly, focusing once again on the road stretching far out ahead of him. Silently pleading with the universe to be on his side for once.

x-x-x

Looking down at his radar. Optimus watched as Bumblebee’s spark signal rapidly sped away from him. Just a few more minutes and he would be out of range completely. 

The large red and blue freightliner sighed heavily. Closing up the hologram and folding the projector away into his wrist cuff with a small click. 

He hoped he'd done the right thing.

x-x-x

Charlie felt like her lungs were on fire. She gagged, twisting her head and hacking. Her shoulders shook painfully. Her throat was scratchy and raw like she’d been trying to eat chaff.

Finally, coughing subsided and she gasped for air. Sucking in great lungfuls of it and wincing when a jolt of pain shot through her rib cage. She tried to take smaller breaths, and the pain gradually faded.

When she could open her eyes, she saw only darkness. For a split second, she panicked. Had she woken up blind?! But then her eyes started to adjust to the gloom and she could see little stars, shifting and dancing in the air.

Forcing her eyes to focus, she could make out that the little stars were specks of dust. Drifting down in little columns and floating in front of her. Charlie frowned at them, trying to get her mind to work. Trying to piece together what she was seeing into something that made sense. 

She squirmed and felt another stab of pain through her chest. Taking in short shallow breaths, she tried to take stock of the situation.

She could tell she was lying awkwardly on the ground. In the dim light, she could only just make out the shapes around her. To her right was the edge of a couch, and beside that, pressing almost painfully into her leg was the remains of a living room table. Against her skin, she could feel scratchy, synthetic carpet. Her nose wrinkled involuntarily. Memo’s mother always used waaaaaay too much carpet cleaner. 

She gasped, then winced again. _Memo _. The earthquake. Suddenly, everything came back to her, the memories slamming into her skull with enough force to physically hurt.__

____

____

Fuck. 

Okay, she was stuck underneath a house that had just collapsed on top of her, pinning her to the floor. Something inside her was broken, and she was alone. Also, she might be hallucinating. Because she could’ve sworn she saw a spaceship before she blacked out. Unless… that was real?

Double fuck. 

She tried to steady her breathing, forcing herself to calm down. Focus Charlie, she scolded, you can worry about that later. First things first. 

Now significantly more awake, Charlie craned her neck forward, lifting a tentative hand up to the heavy pressure on her chest. There was a large wooden roofing beam on top of her, running across the width of her chest. Holding down the other side of the beam was the edge of the roof, more reinforced beams and drywall sagging against it and keeping it in place. Tilted as it was, the beam resting on top of Charlie was angled just enough not to crush her, but still pinning her securely to the ground. 

Charlie grunted, weighing her options. 

Around her, the world was dark and almost stiflingly quiet. At the moment, the beam and half-collapsed roof provided her with a small pocket of empty space within the rubble. She reached out a fist and knocked experimentally against a nearby piece of drywall. It creaked ominously. 

With a grunt, Charlie tried to heave at the beam on top of her chest. But the awkward angle made it almost impossible to budge. She tried pushing at it, her fingers scrabbling over the sharp wood to no avail. Cursing under her breath she heaved at it again, then collapsed back against the ground, panting heavily. 

Charlie whimpered, fighting back the hot sting that had started to prick at the corners of her eyes. The darkness seemed to crowd in on her, those motes of dust the only light in her little cave.  
Her eyes widened, tears forgotten, and she raised her head. Her gaze followed the tiny dust specks as they floated through the air. Up and up to a little crack of daylight through the rubble. 

Not much, but it was there. 

The young woman tensed her arms and dragged them up the chafing carpet. She settled her hands on the beam and pushed. As she pushed, she wiggled her shoulders downwards and did her best to ignore the pain of sharp wood against her clothing as she did so. Carefully, oh so carefully, she squirmed her shoulders underneath the beam. Her breath coming heavily, she silently prepared herself for the next part of her very stupid plan. 

Jerking the beam upwards she slid her head and neck underneath. She heaved the heavy wood over her head for a split second, while her muscles screamed at her, something in her chest popped and she bit back a yell. Her arms shook as she wriggled her torso and head free before letting the beam crash down behind her. 

Charlie sat up quickly in the gloom, then gasped again at the sting in her chest. She braced herself for the roof to come crashing down on her all over again - but the house stayed eerily still.

With a small sigh of relief, she carefully turned over onto her hands and knees. She tested her weight on each of her limbs, ignoring the bite of glass into her palms and the flesh exposed by the rips in her jeans. Her arms felt wobbly, but they’d hold. 

Slowly, Charlie crawled towards the small pinprick of light. Dust and flakes of plaster swirled around her as she moved, flying up into her nose and eyes. She coughed again, trying to clear her throat. 

“Hello?" Her throat felt raw and scratchy. "Memo?” 

Faintly, Charlie heard something in response. She kept moving towards the light, and as she drew closer the faint noise turned into a high pitched barking.

Her eyes widened and she carefully sat up, leaning a hand against the rubble trapping her in and trying to peer out through the hole. On the other side, she heard scuffling and a male voice calling her name. 

“Memo!” Charlie shouted. “I'm in here!” 

A face popped down, level with the hole and she startled backwards. Memo grinned at her, “Ah! Finally! I thought we’d never find you.”

Memo bent down and Charlie could hear him straining as he worked to lift part of the roof to let her out. From the inside, she helped him lever it up and push it to the side.  
As the hole widened, the sounds of the world outside hit her like a truck. Distant sirens and the faint clamouring of voices filled the air, and she grit her teeth against the onslaught on her sensitive ears. 

Poking her head up through the hole, she turned a quizzical look on the boy. “We?”

She grabbed his hand and he pulled her out of the rubble and onto the grass, chuckling. “Me and Conan, of course. It took you long enough to call for help.” 

The relief at seeing her friend fading, replaced by a stab of panic. “Memo, I saw- Hey!” She stumbled backwards as a small furry cannonball launched itself into her stomach and licked at her face. 

Charlie smiled a small, relieved smile and cuddled the little Jack Russell to her chest, careful of her aching ribs. “Glad you’re ok buddy.”

“Speaking of,” Memo straightened to look at her with a raised brow. “Are you?” 

“Uh. Yeah.” Charlie blinked, thoroughly distracted from her train of thought. “Just scratched up. Some wicked bruises that’ll hurt tomorrow. I think maybe one of my ribs is cracked? I guess most of the house missed me.” 

She turned towards the house and gasped. Half of the roof had completely collapsed in on itself, folding in like a pack of cards down one side of the building. Dust and plaster settled in the air and she could see the wooden beams holding up the house sticking out like broken ribs. The hole she had just climbed out of just in front of her, showing where she had been buried. Just under the part of the house still held up by the remaining walls. “Oh my god…”

Memo laughed, but it was strained. “Yeah. It missed you ‘cos most of it landed on me.” 

Charlie spun her head and looked at him again, he was covered in scratches and superficial wounds, just like she probably was too, but she also noticed all of his weight leaning to one side. His left leg took all of his body weight, while he kept his right shoe just barely touching the ground. Memo grimaced under her gaze, then gestured to his ankle, “I think it’s broken, but at the moment I’m too suped up on adrenaline to care.”

Charlie’s expression contorted and she dropped Conan to the ground, barely noticing as he scampered away. She sucked in a deep breath, trying to marshal her thoughts. “Ok. You’re hurt. A house just fell on us. And… Memo, I think I saw a Decepticon spaceship.”

x-x-x

"WHAT?!" 

"Memo, calm down!" Charlie huffed, trying vainly to push down the rising panic in her own chest.

"B-but, They're gone! Bumblebee killed them, right? Right?" Memo's voice cracked and he sucked in a shaky breath. He bent over and held his hands. "...That wasn't an earthquake, was it?"

Charlie knelt down next to him, the gravel of the road biting into her skin through the rips of her jeans. "I… I guess not."  
She grimaced. God, she was glad her family was out of town this week. 

Memo straightened. "Okay, so. You saw a huge spaceship, probably filled with evil giant robot aliens, and it destroyed our neighbourhood with… earth-shaking powers or whatever."

"Yep, that sounds about right." Charlie sighed and stood as well. 

"Well, where's it now?"

Memo leaned heavily against Charlie as they climbed up the steep slope of the hill. She grunted under his weight as he shifted, tenderly keeping his right leg from pressing too hard against the ground. Conan padded along behind them, sniffing the ground as he followed. They carefully navigated over the cracked pavement and up a small ramp of stairs to the crest of the hill and the driveway of one of the largest houses on their street.

Charlie helped Memo to sit down on a small concrete bench as a light rain began to mist in the air. Charlie pulled her hoodie up to cover her face from the water and turned to survey the landscape.

Brighton Falls was a coastal town, framed by large cliffs on one side and a small grey beach on the other. Along the beach ran the boardwalk, where Charlie had worked summers only two years before. The boardwalk and its carnival led up into the main street, which then fed into the city centre (including their old highschool) nestled in the bowl of the small valley. Residential houses climbed up winding streets into the hills, leading up to small rises like the one that Memo and Charlie were currently atop of.

Charlie and Memo gasped. The sudden intake of air caused a stab of pain through the left side of Charlie’s chest. 

Deep scores stretched across the landscape as far as they could see, right through the middle of town. As if someone had picked up a rake and dragged it across the Earth’s surface and left behind massive furrows of upturned dirt and brick and sometimes parts of houses. Charlie felt her knees begin to shake as she followed the lines, tracing them over the hills and down the beach to the sea where they disappeared under the waves. Her gaze kept going, over the tiny waves and surf in the distance and out to sea. Far off the coast, a number of long black rope-like tendrils emerged from the sea and stretched up into the clouds. 

Charlie blinked moisture away from her eyelashes and stared up into the grey clouds, desperately straining to make out any shape up there. “Memo? You see that too, right?”

“Unfortunately.”

Well, at least she didn’t have a concussion. 

Slowly, the clouds began to move aside as the offshore winds buffeted them. As the vapour shifted, a long and pointed black bow came into view. A giant sharp and dark spaceship floating ominously in the sky like a spearhead pointing right at them. 

Memo made a small whimpering noise and Charlie grit her teeth, screwing her eyes shut tight. At their feet, Conan panted happily, with no idea of the threat looming on the horizon. 

x-x-x 

Clouds drifted slowly past the large windows on the Nemesis bridge, leaving small droplets of water behind on the glass. Skywarp watched as two of the little water drops started to collect weight and sag downwards. His crimson optics tracked them as they skid down the glass and out of sight like two jets racing through the sky.

He flopped back in his seat with a dramatic huff, leaning away from his computer screen. "Ugh, even the sky on this planet sucks. What's the point of being here if we can't go flying?" His wings itched at the thought.

Thundercracker leant over his chair and pinched an aileron roughly. Making Skywarp shoot upright with an indignant squawk. "Shut up! Just do the work Starscream assigned you and we'll stay out of his circuits."

The blue jet lowered his voice and sent a small pulse through their spark bond, carefully blocked off from their commanding officer. ((Stay quiet and unassuming. If we act good we might be able to sneak out later))

"Really?" Skywarp brightened, "-I mean, yes. Of course. I live to serve the cause in any way I can." ((Even boring scanning analysis work.)) He added just to Thundercracker. 

A new voice cut in. "It might be boring Skywarp, but it's what I assigned you." Both mechs tensed, their planting clamping down hard against their frames. 

((What? But how can he-))

"I don't need the trine bond to know what either of you are thinking. " Starscream's voice was suddenly much closer. "Your frames are an open datapad. And pretending I'm not here won't help." 

Thundercracker cleared his intake nervously and turned around. "Oh, hey Starscream."

Skywarp leaned forward in his chair, looking up past Thundercracker's hip plating, grinning. "How's it going, boss?"

The red and blue jet scowled. "It was fine until I was reminded that my trinemates are completely useless. Have you analysed _any _of the satellite readings yet?"__

____

____

"Uh… I'm getting there?"

Starscream pinched his nasal bridge and bit back a scream. No sense wasting energy on underlings after all. The jet pushed past Thundercracker and grabbed the back of Skywarp’s chair. With a decisive shove, he tipped the chair and sent the purple jet sprawling onto the ground with a shocked yelp.

“You!” Starscream pointed one claw and a passing drone. “Get over here!”

The poor drone stopped, balancing a stack of datapads on his chest precariously. “M-me sir?”

“Yes, get your aft over here and finish these atmospheric readings, since apparently, my trinemate isn’t qualified to handle them.”

Skywarp shifted to the side and stood swiftly, brushing dust off of his plating as he did so. “I had it under control, Starscream.”

The red and blue jet’s head whipped around. “That’s Commander Starscream, to you. And no, apparently you didn’t.”

With that, the commander stalked off. Thundercracker put a servo on Skywarp’s shoulder and they turned away, quietly slipping into the shadows. 

Striding across the bridge of the nemesis, Starscream approached the large captain’s chair in the middle and sat down. He slouched backwards and picked up a datapad from the stack beside him, pretending to read over reports as he watched the bridge over the top of the screen. 

The bridge of the nemesis was large, as far as bridges go. But then again, the nemesis wasn’t a small craft. Flanking either side of the captain’s chair were large rows of computer monitors and drones working at them. Navigation, weapons, communications. Everything a vessel of war would need. And it was all under control.

Starscream watched as his Decepticons milled about, occasionally yelling at one or two to get back to work when they slowed down. At the very front of the bridge was a large floor-to-ceiling glass window looking out into the sky the planet many miles below. Clouds rolled past the window and Starscream watched in disgust as the blue of the planet’s surface peaked through the clouds as they moved. 

“Helm! Take us up further. I don’t want to see that wretched planet any more than I have to.”

“But sir, are you certain? Can we spare the fuel for unnecessary movement?”

Starscream fixed him with a death glare to rival Shockwave’s and the officer quickly shut up. “Right away sir. Extending tether cables and activating thrusters.”

Slowly the cables beneath the ships’ hull creaked, then began to unspool further. A line of small vents popped open along the underside of the ship and small pink flames shot out, sending the Nemesis floating gently upward.

Starscream watched with satisfaction as the cloud cover gradually moved across the window and obscured the rolling blue waves below. He settled back into his chair with one leg kicked up over the side. 

His datapad pinged in his lap and he picked it up, typing in the password with lazy digits. Another report coming in, with the now complete atmospheric scanning section. He opened the document and read greedily, his claws swiping at the screen quickly as he scanned each line. 

Yes, there. _‘Traces of energon particles discovered in the lower atmosphere, with large deposits probable under the planet’s surface.’ _Starscream smirked, looking out through the window as the Nemesis slowly glided upwards. If they could find this planet’s energon, then they’d have more than enough power to waste making him more comfortable.__

__He laughed suddenly, startling a drone as they walked past. Oh, what fun it will be to strip this planet to its core._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna try for roughly weekly updates! it's just a little hard to motivate myself to write cos drawing is my first love. I've already drafted up to chapter 5 tho so don't even trip on it lads >:)


	3. Skip Town, and Don't Come Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be some period-typical homophobia from some characters in the future, but Charlie is personally chill.

Charlie rummaged through the remains of her bedroom, pushing aside the hunks of ceiling plaster and overturned furniture that littered the floor. The air was thick with dust that hadn’t yet settled, and she tried to breathe lightly to not inhale too much. Which was a wasted effort as her lung burned anyway. Small creaks came from the roof and she hastened her search.

From underneath her overturned dresser, Charlie fished out the chipped remains of a photo frame. The glass was spiderwebbed with cracks and the wooden frame was splintered on one side, but the photo itself was still intact. She traced a fingertip over her dad’s smile and sighed with relief.

She rocked back on her heels and stood, pulling the photo from the frame and tucking it carefully into her pocket. She shouldered on a backpack and, wiping her dusty palms on her jeans, stepped out of the room and into the hall. 

In the garage, leaning against the side of the corvette, Memo waited. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest. leaning to one side to keep the pressure off of his injured foot. Even with the makeshift splint, he needed to keep most of his weight off of it. Thankfully adrenaline seemed to knock out most of the pain, so that was one less thing for them to worry about.

Still, she tossed him a small white blister pack as she approached. She hooked a bottle of water out of her bag and passed it to Memo, who swallowed a couple of pills dutifully. After he was done, she took one herself. If nothing else, it might be a placebo to settle her nerves. 

As she around the corvette she passed her workbench. Sitting on top, knocked over from the shaking was her tool belt. She paused to look at it, the gears in her mind turning. 

Something urged her to take it, and she was beyond caring about what thoughts were rational today. Besides, just looking at the state of the corvette, she might need it later on. She swiftly grabbed the tool belt and slung both that and the backpack into the boot. She leant over into the car and patted Conan’s head as she did so. Inside, everything was mostly fine. A few dings and scratches, and the corner of the windshield was cracked, but fine.The outside however was a different story.

Charlie sighed as she ran a hand down a long scratch on the side of her dad’s car, just one of many that now marred the cherry red paint. One of the walls on the far side of the garage had slumped inwards, causing some of the roof and shelving contents to fall and strike whatever was beneath them. Unfortunately, this included the corvette.

The rest of the garage was a mess of tools and junk that had flown off shelves during the quake, clattering across the floor and many also hitting her car. The front of the car had been struck by a tool cabinet during the shake, leaving the bonnet worryingly crunched. However, despite the damage it had sustained, the engine still started and it was drivable. Not legally, but drivable nonetheless.

Charlie felt her eyes start to burn when she thought about it. The car could drive and they could get out of here. That was the main thing.

She jumped as a hand landed on her shoulder, and turned to see Memo leaning awkwardly towards her. He attempted a smile but it was strained. “C’mon. Let's go.”

Charlie brushed his hand off as she stood, walking around the vehicle to help Memo get inside then hopping in herself. As she slowly backed the dusty corvette out of the garage she deliberately kept her eyes on the mirror. She didn’t want to look at the house in front of her, scared of seeing it for what could be the last time. 

x-x-x

They drove slowly down the road as Charlie carefully wove around large cracks in the pavement. Memo gaped at the demolished houses and buildings as they passed by. He gulped as they passed one of the massive grooves the Decepticon’s tether things had made. The mound churned up earth was huge, almost higher than the single story buildings in the town square and casting the teens and their car into shadow. 

Charlie sped up slightly, pushing to get them away as soon as possible. On either side of the road were ruined storefronts and people milling about looking lost. Some staring up at the sky with confusion, others frantically sorting through what was left of their homes and businesses. First responders walked through the mess, ordering people to move out of the way and evacuate whilst they helped dig others out. 

Charlie grit her teeth as they passed the corner of a laundromat she recognised. She’d applied for a job there and been rejected two summers ago. Now, on the side of the street a little girl was balling. Her mother halfheartedly tried to wipe at her tears as she held the little girl close, rocking back and forth with vacant eyes. 

The way out of Brighton Falls was blocked by a long line of cars stuck in a slog down the highway. People slowly trying to make their way out. Where people couldn't drive, they walked. But everyone was moving in the same direction, away. They all knew that by the coast was not a great place to be. 

Memo held Conan tighter against his chest as they merged into the line of traffic, watching the scared and confused faces of the people as they passed. 

A tightness bloomed in Charlie's chest as she watched her friend. God. What the fuck were they gonna do? She closed her eyes tightly, watching small stars burst behind pressure in her eyelids. There were too many things unknown. Too much she couldn’t control and it was all out of her hands, and rapidly becoming overwhelming.

She sighed shakily and tried to steady herself. After counting to five she snapped her eyes back open and yanked the steering wheel to the right.

Memo let out a yell as the corvette bounced and veered off the road and onto the grassy stop bank beside it, revving up the small hill and off the side of the highway. With nothing in their way, Charlie put her foot to the floor and they sped away in a cloud of dust.

x-x-x

They sped down a long flat stretch of road, desert stretching out on both sides. The sun dipped low on the horizon behind them casting long shadows that stretched out like spindly fingers across the landscape.

Fast approaching on the right was a small petrol station. Charlie glanced down at the fuel meter on the dash of the corvette and... Yep. Almost in the red. Goddamn it. If only she'd filled up the tank when she went into town a few days before. She'd meant to, of course, but a fat lot of good that did them now.

She flicked the blinker on and started to pull over. “Memo? We're stopping for a bit okay? We need gas.” 

The corvette’s wheels crunched over loose gravel as they turned into the driveway, and she pulled up to one of the pumps.

Memo lifted his head off the back of the seat, as the car came to a stop. He squinted against the glare of the setting sun reflected in the windshield, and watched Charlie extricate herself from the front seat. “Are we staying the night here?” He asked.

Charlie sighed. Looking up at the rapidly darkening sky and ignoring the twist in her gut that brought. “Yeah… We might as well. I can't promise I can drive safely for the rest of the night.” The last thing they needed was to wreck their only mode of transport because she fell asleep at the wheel, but by the way the corvette’s engine was whining that might happen anyway.

She walked around the side of the car and popped the trunk, pulling out their bags and dumping them on the ground. “This would be a lot easier if you’d ever learned to drive too, y'know.”

“Pssssh.” Memo twisted in his seat, gently cradling the sleeping Conan in his lap. “I never needed to. Some of us like to exercise by walking.”

Charlie gave a noncommittal hum. Mentally taking stock of their supplies. A couple sleeping bags, some food that they'd scrounged from the kitchen of her house, most of a first aid kit, and a few sentimental items in her backpack still in the footwell. Enough, for now.

Distantly, she could hear Memo still talking as she rounded the car towards the gas pump. She unhooked the nozzle and slid it into the side of the corvette, pressing down on the trigger. The trigger compressed without pressure, and Charlie frowned. She squeezed it a few more times, but there wasn't any fuel coming out. With a scowl, she hung the nozzle back on the pump. The universe was out to get her today apparently, and was manifesting as lazy gas station attendants. 

She turned away and stooped to pick up her backpack out of the car seat. With her free hand she grabbed the keys and started towards the storefront. Behind her, she could hear Memo shut the car door and hobble after her.

The two teens reached the convenience store and peered into its dark windows. The inside looked completely normal, with nothing out of place except for the obvious lack of life. Rows of shelves lined the interior of the shop, filled with trashy snacks and equally trashy items. Truck stop beers and the eternally-sticky magazines stacked in rows, alongside tacky tourist crap that would make anyone cringe. To one side, they could just make out the cashier's counter, and a door to the side of that leading to what was probably a bathroom.  
Memo shuffled past Charlie and reached for the handle, one arm still gripping the sleeping Conan to his chest. He tried to twist it, pulling and shaking the door in its frame. The door stayed resolutely closed. 

“Well, guess they didn’t want visitors.” Memo turned back to Charlie. “Can we recline the corvette’s seats to sleep in?”

Charlie huffed and walked away from the door, kicking her feet into the dirt. The toe of her boot hit a bump in the dirt and she scuffed her shoe over it, exposing a large flat rock. 

Picking up the rock, she walked back towards the glass door. She bounced the rock in her palm a couple of times, feeling its weight, then she drew back her arm and aimed.

“Hey wait! What are you-”

Charlie flung the rock forward and it smashed straight through the glass, sending the window shattering into a million tiny pieces. Memo covered his ears with a yell, dropping Conan in the process, who also let out a startled yelp. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!” Memo yelled.

Charlie strode calmly towards the door and put her arm through the now shattered top half. She reached down and tugged on the handle, which turned freely in her grasp, allowing the door to open inwards. “We’re _not _sleeping in the corvette.”__

__“Charlie! What the fuck dude!?”_ _

__

__“Memo, please, stop yelling. No one else is here. We are. We need shelter, and now we have it.” She stepped over the shards of glass in the doorway and entered the shop proper._ _

__“You can’t just-just- _do _that though! Ugh! God Charlie, can you at least give me some warning next time? It doesn’t feel right.”___ _

____ _ _

____Something inside Charlie finally snapped, she whirled around to face him. “MEMO NONE OF THIS IS RIGHT! Okay!? None of this makes any sense! Right now, I don’t give a damn about smashing a window. We’ve all got bigger things to worry about!”_ _ _ _

____“And I-” She choked, looking hopelessly into the shelves around her. The plastic model’s faces stared back blankly and she sighed. “-I don’t know what to do, okay?”_ _ _ _

____Memo frowned. “Charlie…”_ _ _ _

____“They’re back, Memo! They weren’t supposed to come back! We were supposed to go on with our regular lives and not have to worry about any of this anymore.” Charlie sagged to the floor, for the second time in as many days feeling glass crunch underneath her knees and dig into her skin “Before we had… we had Bumblebee and we knew what to do! We had to stop them, we had to save everyone. But now, we’re on our own. Who knows how many giant war machines are out there now, and we’re just two _kids _.”___ _ _ _

______She looked up at Memo, feeling a hot sting begin to form in the corners of her eyes. “What are we supposed to do?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Memo knelt down in front of her, gingerly keeping his weight off of his injured foot. He reached out to take Charlie's hand and she let him pull it away from her face. “Hey, it's gonna be alright,” He said. squeezing her palm gently._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______She sniffed and wiped at her face. “You don’t know that.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“It’s been a long, long day. This is just the stress talking okay? God, Charlie, I’m supposed to be the nervous one.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie laughed weakly. “No, you’re the cowardly one.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Memo nodded sagely, “That I am. Now c’mon, there’s gotta be something we can do now.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______The two teens shuffled further into the store, leaning against the far wall and dumping their bags beside them. Wordlessly, Memo reached up and grabbed a couple of chocolate bars off of a nearby shelf. He offered one to Charlie. Slowly, she unwrapped it and took a bite. As the sugar started to hit her stomach she felt her brain start to calm down. Her breathing became more even until the stinging in her eyes stopped._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Okay.” Memo started, nibbling on his own candy bar. “Idea. What if we go to the government?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie shot him a look._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Right, right. Bad idea. Given their track record of kidnapping ‘Bee, the odds of success aren’t great.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Besides,” Charlie waved her candy bar in the air as if to illustrate a point. “What would they do with us? They’d probably just tell us to shove off._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Ugh, you're right.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______They sat in silence for a bit, both quietly finishing their chocolate and stuffing the wrappers into their pockets._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Hey, Charlie?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Mm?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Where do you think your family is?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie sighed. "I don't know. They were out of town for one of Otis’ karate competitions. Now, though? I have no idea. But… I’m they're safe.” They have to be, she thought. They just have to._ _ _ _ _ _

______She bumped her shoulder against Memo’s. “I’m sure your family will be okay, too. We’ll find them soon enough. Once we get to a payphone we can start calling around and ask alright? I’m sure the authorities are having to deal with a lot of displaced people right now.”_ _ _ _ _ _

_______Memo bumped his shoulder back against hers. "Yeah, yeah, you're right. How far are we from Brighton falls do you reckon we are?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _

______“Charlie reached over and grabbed at a road map displayed on one of the shelves above them. On it in large tourist-friendly print, it had a map of California. “Well," She said. "We drove for a while so I'd guess we’re about halfway to the border. If we can get more driving time tomorrow, we can probably make it to the border before nightfall. It's where we go after _that _that’s the problem.”___ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo was quiet, and it made Charlie uneasy. He frowned. "Should we tell people?” He asked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie quirked an eyebrow. “Who would believe us?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________It was Memo’s turn to sigh and he threw his head back against the wall. “True. We’d sound absolutely insane.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie nodded, tracing the road map in front of her with her eyes and trying to plot their course. Which, of course, was impossible without a destination. Charlie huffed in exasperation and flipped over the map._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Snagging a marker pen from the same shelf as the map she drew up a loose table on the blank side of the paper. On one half of the table she wrote, in capital letters; WHAT WE KNOW. Underneath that she wrote:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________1: The Decepticons are here.  
2: They’re off the coast of California.  
3: We absolutely _cannot _be here when they make their move.  
4: Bumblebee and his friends are here, (on Earth?) somewhere. ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie looked over at Memo, her brow furrowed. She chewed on the pen cap and tried to force her brain to think._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________She looked over at Memo, who shrugged in return._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Taking a deep breath, she started on the next column. As a heading she wrote: WHAT WE SHOULD DO NEXT.  
She tapped the pen against her chin, thinking. She looked between the paper and Memo, then back to the paper again. Suddenly, inspiration struck. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Alright!” She smirked at Memo. “First, I’m gonna move the corvette in case it rains.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie drifted, in darkness and in absence of sensation. The only feeling was a vague impression of warmth in the comforting blackness around her. Muted colours bloomed and faded around her like a kaleidoscope, and she watched them come and go with detached contentment. Thoughts floated through her mind, and she let them pss without a second glance. She was happy to just float and enjoy the silence._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Until something woke her up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie’s mind slammed back into her body and she jerked up in her sleeping bag. Groaning, she tried to curl back under covers and into the warmth. Her thoughts came quicker and easier now, and she knew she couldn’t just float any more. Blearily she opened her eyes, blinking rapidly to try and clear the sleep from them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The convenience store was just as dusty and empty as it had been the previous evening, but it looked strangely different in the dawn light. Weak beams of sunlight had just started to filter their way through the front windows and reach across the floor towards her, glinting across the shards of glass they'd haphazardly swept out of the way the night before. But the early morning light hadn’t even reached the toe of her sleeping bag yet, so it wasn’t that that had woken her up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie shifted in her sleeping bag and winced at the ache that sent through her bruised ribs. She rolled over onto her side to glance at Memo. Her friend was still deeply unconscious beside her, rolled up in his own sleeping bag and snoring softly. At his feet, Charlie could just make out the small furry tufts of Conan’s ears. As she watched, the little dog’s head turned to face her. His brown eyes glinted in the half-light as he stared up at her and licked his lips._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Sitting up, she reached out a hand to the little dog and scratched the top of his head. Conan’s tail thumped against Memo’s leg in response, earning an annoyed grunt from the boy, but his breathing quickly deepened again and he was back to snoring._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“What is it, boy?” Charlie asked. “What woke us up huh?” She adjusted her hand to scratch under Conan’s chin, enjoying the warmth of the little dog’s fur._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The glass in the window panes started to rattle against the wooden frames. A low rumble reverberated through the air and into Charlie’s chest, making her teeth click together in her jaw. Conan whimpered._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie leaned forwards out of her sleeping bag, kicking it off of her feet. Carefully, she crawled towards the windows at the front of the store._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The shaking of the glass grew louder and more violent, and Memo woke with a start. He rubbed sleep from his eyes and sat up in his sleeping bag. “Wha-?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Shssh!” Charlie glared at him, holding a finger to her lips. Slowly, she raised her head up above the window sill and looked past the quaking glass to the outside._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________In the grey sky of the early morning, Charlie could just make out two dark specs on the horizon. She sucked in a breath as they rapidly increased in size. Growing closer and closer by the second, the two blurry shapes coalesced into the sharp and dangerous points of a pair of jets streaking through the sky. The two jets flew closer and closer, before starting to slow down. As if they were going to stop, but… they weren’t dipping down to land on the desert. So then what…?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Her eyes widened in dawning horror as the jets _shifted _. The top half of the planes splitting straight down the middle and folding outwards like high speed origami. The metal plates and panes folded away and rearranged themselves. The rear thrusters kicked forwards and split, twirling through the air as they formed two pairs of long legs. The jets’ wings pitched upwards and spun around, falling back against twin wide torsos and flaring out behind the robot’s heads. The mechs floated in the air, kept aloft by jets of flame bursting out of the bottom of their feet. Two dark shadows in the sky above.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie sucked in a gasp, her pulse hammering in her ears. Jesus Christ was she glad that she’d moved the corvette last night. Tucking it around behind the convenience store might have just been a distraction, a way to feel like she was doing something. But she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t grateful for it now._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Beside her, Charlie could feel Memo’s unsteady breath on her shoulder. In the reflection of the window, the teenagers’ faces looked back at them. Wide-eyed and terrified._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________From afar, the two robots seemed to be almost exact copies of one another. Different only in colour scheme. They talked as the two humans watched. The blue one gesticulating and the black one nodding quickly. They spun on their heel thrusters, and took one more cursory glance around the landscape. Then they set off in a new direction and disappeared into the clouds._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Memo and Charlie stared out of the window until the vapour trails faded, neither speaking. Memo’s shaking hand brushed Charlie’s wrist and she gladly took hold of it. Almost crushing his fingers in her grip._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Slowly, she turned to face her friend. His face was wide and open, and scared. She knew it was an echo of her own. “There’s no fucking way that was an Autobot,” She said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Memo gulped, and nodded. Still squeezing Charlie’s fingers. “So now what do we do?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie gently pulled her hand away and stood. Marching back towards their things. Unceremoniously, she shoved theirs things into the backpacks, packing up their sleeping bags as quickly as she was able. “We run, okay? We don’t have an option. We’re gonna run until we figure out where we’re running to.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________‘Welcome to Brighton Falls!’ Cheered a sign beside the road as Bumblebee crawled past. Slow and careful in the darkness of night. Above him the sky was still thick with heavy clouds, blocking out the stars and casting the town into gloom._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The purple dot on his internal map was blinking steadily, cruising high up in the atmosphere off the western coast of the United States. He watched it with a wary optic and triple checked his signal dampener. Still on and secured, thank Primus._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He steeled himself, and began to slowly roll forward on the cracked road. Carefully making his way up the hill towards Charlie’s house._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The streets were empty and void of life. Everyone who could had evacuated to more inland towns. Those who couldn’t go by themselves were either taken by first responders, or beyond help. the buildings cracked and twisted with shattered pavement at their feet. Dark and empty windows watched him, waiting._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He steered around a jagged gash in the road, the edge of a massive crater. Formed by one of the Decepticons’ ship’s tethers digging deep into the ground and churning aside rock and earth like tissue paper. Water sprayed upwards from a broken pipe in the side of the crater. A morbid fountain that covered Bumblebee’s windshield with mist._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He dialed his audials up to their highest setting and scanned the cul de sac ahead of him, even though he could see nothing but rubble. Spark in his throat, he rolled into the street, headlights glaringly bright in the darkness._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Cutting through the gloom the twin beams of light fell onto the rubble of Charlie’s house. Although most of it was still standing, Bumblebee could tell even in the gloom that the building was beyond repair. The damage to the structure was too severe, and had even started to cause the house to lean to the side. Bumblebee drove up and into the driveway, before he transformed quickly. He could feel his own fields lashing around him in vain, wild with barely restrained anxiety._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee laid a servo on the front door and, finding it unlocked, pushed it open. He ducked his head through and into the inside._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The blue of the autobot’s optics was the only light within the house, and as he turned his head that light spilled over the messy insides. Furniture, debris and belongings were strewn about the room, but no sign of Charlie or her family. His spark thumped painfully in his chassis, and Bumblebee chirped into the darkness._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________A recording of Otis’ voice spit out from his radio, “Charlie?”The house stayed silent and dark._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Charlie!” He tried again, using his real voice and internally wincing at the crackle of static it produced. But still, nothing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee pulled his head out of the doorway and straightened. His processor buzzing with a million half-written question codes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Then suddenly, inspiration._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee spun on his heel and strode towards the garage again. He bent and dug his fingers underneath the garage door, ignoring the horrible screech as he wrenched it upwards. The garage door clattered as Bumblebee forced it into place, but stayed put._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The Autobot released the door, and ducked under the doorway into the garage. All at once, Bumblebee found himself back in the little room he had spent so much time in. Quaint and dusty and the smelling faintly of oil, but the same. In one corner, there was the tv that he’d watched all those strange human movies on, and on shelves behind it, rows and rows of the plastic music discs Charlie liked so much. The workbench itself was littered with tools and half disassembled car parts. It was exactly as he remembered, except for the fact that now the roof was collapsing to the side and all the items within the garage were in complete disarray. Apart from that, it was the same._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee’s optics narrowed. Except, it wasn’t. Glaringly obvious, was the missing corvette. And where it had usually hung from beside the workbench, Charlie’s tool belt was gone as well. Two things, Bumblebee knew, she would never leave behind. He felt the tension in his shoulders leave, that left only one alternative._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie was still alive, and she had left. Meaning now, all Bumblebee had to do was find her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I know he's not technically in this chapter, but I keep writing "Skywarp" as "Skywap" on accident and... *shudders* supremely cursed.
> 
> My idea for the Nemesis! So um yeah, to save power the starship releases these really long tether cord things that dig into the planet's surface and act as an anchor point to help slow the ship down and keep it in place once they've stopped. Imagine aesthetically like TFP Soundwave's tentacle things but massive and many of them :) (also without the range of movement Soundwave's had, like damn. Man's got range.)


	4. A Little Bit of Cottagecore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heehee im back :)  
> school kicked my ass this week so I didn't get any new writing done but you lucky duckies get a chapter anyway B)

The little yellow Volkswagen sped down the almost empty motorway, midday sun glinting off of his plating.

Bumblebee flicked through radio stations absentmindedly, letting the sounds of static and human voices wash over him as he tried to think. The newscasters were at it again, repeating the same things but never anything of note to the Autobot. 

Instead, his mind was on other things. Like how he could possibly find his missing friend in the vast landscape of the state. With the mass evacuation of the coastal towns, many humans were on the move, and the chances of finding just one were…. Well, they weren’t great. 

Bumblebee tried to shake himself out of that negative thinking, causing the little bug to veer sharply across the road. Defeatism wouldn’t solve anything for anybody, he reminded himself. He had to compartmentalise. He had a job to do. He had to look for Charlie, and Memo too if he were able. (though the remains of his house hadn’t looked promising). 

He was a scout. Gathering information and finding people was his whole function, he was confident that he could find one obnoxiously bright red corvette. 

Still, he wished that he had put some kind of tracker on Charlie’s car. 

An idea sparked in his cortex. Two neural wires zinged with connection and he almost swerved off the road. He sped up, his tires screeching against the asphalt as a plan started to form in his strategy centre. 

He kept driving, sensors trained on either side of the road for speed cameras.

It was a while before he finally saw one, a small white box poking out of the trees. He turned tightly on the road, cutting across several empty lanes of traffic and bumping over the median strip. Bumblebee skidded to a halt in a sandy hollow off of the side of the road, the dust blowing up and coating his wheels. 

After a quick check around him, and confirming that there were no witnesses, he transformed. The Autobot stood next to the speed camera pole, significantly taller than it by at least a few helms. He bent slightly to examine the box and poked it experimentally. His digit met a slightly raised seam on the casing and he pulled it open, exposing the wiring and circuitry of the camera itself.

Bumblebee transformed the index digit of his right servo, and the metal armour over the digit folded away to let smaller plates shift forward to create a small point out of his own wiring. Carefully, he slotted his digit into the camera’s wiring and pushed into the network with an uplink connection.

Bumblebee’s mind was instantly connected to the camera network, and a wave of data hit him. A wash of numbers and images running wildly through his processor, before he shunted them off for his background cortex to take care of instead. 

Whilst his subroutines were slogging through the data, Bumblebee examined the network in front of him. Human technology was nowhere near the level that cybertronian tech was at, of course, but it was still fascinating to the yellow Autobot. Within his helm, he had access to all of the roads within a 100-mile radius. Just waiting to reveal their secrets. 

Scanning over thousands and thousands of images captured over the last few weeks, Bumblebee suddenly got a hit. A series of pictures, all fitting filter specifications of the corvette’s make, model and number plate. All taken within the last two days. 

The image was grainy but clearly showed the corvette speeding down the road. Bumblebee enhanced the picture, adjusting values for noise and sharpening where needed. The image slowly loaded the changes, and bit by bit the corvette and its occupants were revealed. Charlie was in the driver’s seat, her brown hair flying out behind her and her face scrunched up in what was probably a frown. To her right was Memo, looking to the side with Conan on his lap. The little dog had his head shoved out of the car and into the wind. 

Quickly, Bumblebee sorted the images. Cross-referencing them with his internal map of the nearby road and displaying them in chronological order. Across his HUD he charted a map of the corvette’s movements in a bright red line. The spots in which the speed cameras’ had clocked Charlie were timestamped at a few different points along the route. 

Bumblebee could feel his shoulder pauldrons sag in relief. He’d figured she was ok, but seeing proof? That was different. That was far better. 

And now, he knew exactly where she was going. He severed the connection with a snap and transformed back into vehicle mode. His wheels spun in the dust and he shot back out onto the highway with a squeal. The road map leading the way from the corner of his HUD.

x-x-x

Charlie felt the corvette under her start to shudder. She gripped the steering wheel hard as the car sputtered and began to lose speed. Smoke began to curl out of the front of the crunched hood and wisp away into the air. 

“No, no, no, no!” Charlie slammed her boot down onto the accelerator, pumping furiously and urging the car to speed up again. “Not now!”

The corvette apparently didn’t want to listen, because it continued to rapidly lose speed. It jolted forward and started shuddering even more violently. The smoke from the hood darkened and billowed out more forcefully before the car finally slowed to a stop in the middle of the road. 

Charlie hit the dash with a fist, startling Memo awake beside her. The boy jumped in his seat and looked around frantically. Seeing that they were no longer moving he turned to Charlie, one eyebrow raised. “...We taking a break?” He asked.

Charlie swore under her breath and thunked her head against the steering wheel. Her ribs twinged painfully as she did so. She peaked at the fuel metre, double-checking even though she already knew what it’d say. Yup, in the red. The ‘check engine’ light was blinking at her obnoxiously and she felt like punching it. The car had finally succumbed to its damage and lack of fuel. Checking the engine wasn’t going to do much anymore. 

“We’re out of gas,” she said. “Among other things.”

“Shit.”

“You said it.” Charlie mentally kicked herself for overlooking something so stupid. She should’ve packed a spare gas canister, or a siphon, or something.

Part of her wanted to argue that it wasn’t technically her fault. She had tried to fill up the corvette the previous night, but she’d hoped they’d find another gas station or a town or something before they’d run out. And she wouldn’t have had a canister to fill with the gas anyway, since the corvette didn’t have one packed. Additionally, there weren't any nearby vehicles for her to siphon gas from, even if the owners would have agreed. Apparently, the universe just wasn’t on their side today. Or, she thought with a grimace, this entire week. 

Y’know what, why not go the extra mile? The universe apparently wasn’t ever on their side. 

The door clicked as she pushed it open, and she got out of the car. The gravel road crunched underneath her feet as she walked around to Memo’s side.

She pulled open his door too and waited for Conan to jump out of the footwell. The little jack russel ran off, sniffing with great interest at the weeds that lined the sides of the road. 

Charlie leant against the side of the car and pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand. Her body was aching something terrible, the events of the previous days starting to catch up to her. Each and every cut and graze on her body stung, and she grimaced internally. She was not looking forward to checking under her clothes and having to deal with that later. “Where are we, Memo?”

Memo ducked forward and rescued the road map from the floor. It’d slipped off of his lap sometime after he fell asleep and was now a little more crinkled, but no worse for wear.

“Uhhh…” he fumbled with the map, unfolding it to find where they’d last been. He refolded the paper in half, exposing the pen marks they’d used to trace their route so far. “What was the last major road we passed?”

Charlie thought back. Eventually, all of the roads started to look the same. Especially when going through more rural areas. “Um...Tweed?”

Memo hummed and poured back over the map, tracing the tiny names with his fingertip. He tapped the paper and angled it towards Charlie. “That would’ve been about half an hour ago, right? So that puts us just about... here.”

Charlie nodded, but her face remained pinched. “That’s as good of a guess as any I suppose. Well, get out.”

“What?” he said, incredulously.

“Memo, the car’s out of gas. We can’t _push _it all the way to the nearest town, can we? we’ll have to walk.”__

__“But my leg! I can’t walk that far!”_ _

__Charlie leaned into the car, shrugging her shoulders apologetically. As much as she hated seeing her friend hurt, she didn’t see any other option. “It's that, or you wait here.” She reached out to Memo’s shoulder, clasping it gently. “And I don’t wanna leave you out here alone.”_ _

__Memo looked like he was about to argue, but then stopped. He balled up his fists in his lap and nodded. Without saying anything he shifted around to gather his things and stuff them into a half-open backpack on the floor of the footwell._ _

__Satisfied, Charlie walked around to the back of the corvette slowly. She kept her gaze to the side, deliberately not looking at the car. With quick hands, she popped the boot and emptied all of their stuff out from it onto the ground._ _

__Once all of their things were outside, she started stuffing her own backpack with supplies. They only had the two bags between them, and not everything would fit. AA car boot was much bigger than a bag after all. Still, just looking at the bag made her chest start to hurt again, but it was a necessary sacrifice._ _

__And, she knew, it wouldn’t be the only sacrifice that day._ _

__Once Memo was ready, they shouldered on their packs. Charlie stood beside the corvette’s hood and ran a hand down the red metal. Her fingertips grazed over the scratches and dings it had sustained over the last few days and she felt her eyes start to sting. The car was a little banged up, but still just as glorious and beautiful as ever._ _

__Every little part of the car was a piece she knew intimately, having put it there with her own hand. Or even, having helped her dad put it there. She gulped, trying vainly to swallow back the tightness that had arisen in her throat. For a time, this car had been everything in her life. The be-all, end-all that was going to save her._ _

__She had thought, perhaps foolishly, that if she prepared the corvette. It would bring him back, in some small way. Logically, of course, she knew that was stupid. Of course. But her heart never could listen to her head._ _

__Then she’d met Bumblebee and he’d help her truly realise that wasn’t going to happen. But also that that was okay, and she could move on anyway. The irony wasn’t lost on her, that a living car helped her see another car was dead._ _

__Memo watched her quietly. His eyes glued to her face and waiting for a reaction._ _

__Charlie reached up and wiped at her eyes. She gripped the car door hard and leant over into its interior, snagging the keys out of the ignition._ _

__She ran her thumb down the length of the key, circled down to the key chain and the small circular pendant of red metal (an old piece of the original bumper they’d had to replace) that hung there. She grasped the keys tightly, tight enough the metal almost cut into her hand, and shoved them into her pocket with a small jingle._ _

__She turned to Memo and offered out her arm, which he gratefully accepted. He huffed as he shifted on her shoulder, leaning on her heavily to take the weight off his injured ankle. Over her shoulder, she whistled for Conan and the little dog bounded out of the wild grass to fall in behind them. Trotting obediently at their feet as they set off down the road._ _

__x-x-x_ _

__The sun was hot overhead. Too hot. Its rays beating down on the teenagers’ necks and heads without mercy. The heat hit the road and caused the air ahead to shimmer and dance in front of their tired eyes._ _

__Memo leaned heavily onto Charlie’s shoulder as he walked, his curly hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. Each step caused him to push down slightly and jerk that side of her body to the left, sending a spike of pain through her body. She grit her teeth and forced herself to keep moving, step by step down the dusty road._ _

__They walked like this for hours, until their bodies were exhausted and their feet blistered. For once, Charlie regretted wearing her Docs, as they rubbed against the sides of her shin and cut into the flesh there._ _

__Behind them came the unmistakable crunch of tires on gravel and both teens tensed up, shuffling around to face back the way they’d come. A cloud of dust was quickly making its way up the road towards them, with the dark shape of a vehicle inside._ _

__Her heart fluttered in her chest as the vehicle approached, but Charlie was far too tired to do anything aside from stare and scowl._ _

__From the dust, the dark blue cab of a pickup truck emerged. The truck was scratched and muddy, with dirt plastered up one side and dust coating its undercarriage. It slowed to a stop beside the teens and Charlie could see the flatbed was filled with farming equipment. Tools and gear, as well as bags of fertilizer and feed thrown haphazardly into the back._ _

__The drivers’ window wound down, and a face popped out. An older woman with greying hair cut short and spiky on top of her head. Her expression was neutral, but as she took in the state of the two teens, her mouth dipped down into a frown._ _

__“Do you two need a lift?” She asked._ _

__Charlie glanced at Memo, taking in his flushed face and heavy breathing. Her own limbs felt heavy. Just the thought of walking even a yard more made her feet ache._ _

__Memo squeezed her shoulder and smiled at the woman, “Yes please, ma’am,” he said with relief._ _

__x-x-x_ _

__The two teenagers sat on a worn out old couch in the middle of a farmhouse lounge, in the corner, Conan was curled up on a small pile of blankets and snoring softly. In front of them sat a low table with two steaming cups of coffee on mismatched coasters._ _

__The couch was covered with far too many pillows, and the room itself was much the same way. Picture frames lined almost every inch of the walls, and ornaments and knickknacks took up all available space on the furniture. The photographs showed many different scenes. Here, a candid of a younger version of the woman who had picked them up, with the same warm eyes but slightly less wrinkled skin. Over there, another woman with blond hair posing against the side of a barn and laughing. Directly across from Charlie and Memo sat a large framed picture of the two women, side by side with smiles so wide they were blinding._ _

__The woman who had picked them up from the side of the road, Donna, had driven them back to her farmhouse, where they’d been told (roughly but not unkindly) to sit and stay put on the couch. So now they were on the couch of a stranger’s home drinking their coffee and generally being an imposition._ _

__A clatter rang out from the kitchen and Donna emerged from the doorway, carrying a bottle and cloth in one hand and a tray in the other. She set both items down on the coffee table and motioned to the tray, which was stacked with biscuits. “Help yourselves,” she said with a grin._ _

__Charlie felt her stomach gurgle and she gratefully reached out to take one. She cleared her throat, “Thanks, it’s been a while since we ate.”_ _

__Donna laughed, “I can tell! You two look like you’ve walked through the mountains and back. What happened?”_ _

__Before Memo or Charlie could answer, the screen door swung open behind them and another woman stepped in. “Donna? I’m bac- Oh! We have guests?”_ _

__Donna lifted her head and she smiled, “Kids, this is my friend Sadie.”_ _

__Sadie stepped into view and smiled at them warmly, but with a little bit of confusion. She was roughly the same age as Donna, older but neither old enough to retire. “Hello.” She said, with a little wave._ _

__“I found these two on Grey’s road, south of the Smiths' place. They were walking through the dirt like animals, so I offered them a lift. That one,” She pointed at Memo, “He’s done a number on his ankle and they looked like they needed a little help.”_ _

__Memo nodded tiredly, “Hi, and yeah, thank you. I’m Memo, and this is Charlie. We had a car, but uh… now we don't. So, we’ve been walking.”_ _

__“We’re from Brighton Falls,” Charlie interjected. “Right on the coast. We’re trying to get over state lines if we can. As far away as possible.”_ _

__Sadie pulled over a chair to sit in front of them, whilst Donna sorted through the box of bandages on the table. The older woman began pulling out gauze and antiseptic wipes from the box, arranging them in neat little piles on the tabletop._ _

__

__Sadie sighed, “Well, it's nice to meet you. Though it's a pity that it isn’t under better circumstances. I’m impressed you two have gotten so far, the coast isn’t a great place to be right now. Particularly not with the military moving in.”_ _

__“What?” Charlie sat up straight, the sudden movement causing the now-familiar stab of pain through her middle. She winced, then tried again. “When did that happen?”_ _

__

__“Oh honey, the government sent the army in yesterday. Almost as soon as that thing arrived the military was dead set on attacking it! We don’t even know if it’s hostile yet!”_ _

__

__Charlie almost laughed. ‘Not hostile’, _sure _. Instead, she managed to grit out a quiet, “Yeah.”___ _

____Sadie raised an eyebrow at Charlie’s reaction, but she said nothing._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____“Have they fired yet?” Memo asked._ _ _ _

____Sadie frowned, tapping her fingers against her chin. “Not since I last heard. They were still preparing I think, but we can check.” She stood and crossed the room to an old looking radio. She began to fiddle with the dial and a wash of static and crackling filled the room._ _ _ _

____A man’s voice broke in through the waves of static. “-California’s coast is still being regarded as a no-travel zone, until the U.F.O. can be identified or brought down. U.S. fighter jets were dispatched to meet the U.F.O after radio contact was not established, and it refused to leave U.S. airspace. So far, the artillery used appears to have no effect.”_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Sadie turned the volume down on the radio, leaving the man to talk quietly in the background amidst a small hush of crackles and pops. “Well, I honestly can’t say I’m surprised.”_ _ _ _

____Charlie swallowed against a lump in her throat, feeling her heart squeeze in her chest almost to burst. The military was already fighting them, or trying to at least. She wasn’t exactly sure what to feel about that._ _ _ _

____“They’ve been sending their jets around here too, flying all over the place and spooking our cattle,” Donna chimed in, carefully uncapping the bottle she’d brought in and pouring a solution onto the cloth, which she then ripped in half. “What I don’t understand is why they’re bothering with that at all, we’re nowhere near the coast.”_ _ _ _

____Memo and Charlie shared a look, “Military jets are here?” Charlie asked._ _ _ _

____“I reckon so. I mean, who else is gonna have jets coming over right now?” she finished preparing the cloth and passed one each to Memo and Charlie. “Rubbing alcohol. Swab these over your grazes. It’ll sting like a bitch, but it’ll stop an infection from forming.”_ _ _ _

____She turned to Memo, “I’m sorry son, but we can’t do anything for a broken leg here. Tomorrow, we can take you into town and get the local doctor to take a look at it.” She shot a glance back over at Charlie. “And you too. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you wincing whenever you move.”_ _ _ _

____Charlie winced again, but not from the pain in her chest this time. Instead, she nodded weakly back at Donna. At the moment she was too tired to argue._ _ _ _

____One thing stuck out to her though. “What are the jets doing?”_ _ _ _

____Donna shook her head, “Not sure. But it seems like they’re looking for something.”_ _ _ _

____Sadie hummed in agreement as she walked to Donna’s side, picking up the rest of the tray of biscuits and walking back to the kitchen._ _ _ _

____The alcohol stung as Charlie touched the cloth to her skin. Sinking into the cuts and grazes and setting fire to already raw flesh. She hissed in pain and pressed the cloth in harder, hoping that the pressure would ease the harsh sting._ _ _ _

____It didn’t, but at least it felt like she was doing something._ _ _ _

____Beside her, Memo tensed up as Donna helped him brush the cloth over his own wounds, a yelp escaping him as she pressed a little harder on his elbow._ _ _ _

____Charlie rolled her eyes, “Wimp.”_ _ _ _

____“Hey!” He protested, but without any fire in his voice. Instead he just grumbled and slumped back against the couch seat, resigned to Donna’s less-than-gentle ministrations._ _ _ _

____When she’d finished, Donna straightened and wiped her hands off on her pants, balling up the used cloth and tucking it into her pocket. “We don’t have a spare room, but you two can sleep in the barn tonight. It’s warm and dry, and far enough away from the house that us early risers won’t wake you up. We only use it to store hay, so it shouldn't smell too bad either.”_ _ _ _

____Charlie’s body ached at the thought of lying down, even if it was in a bed of prickly hay stalks. She smiled tiredly back at the older woman, “Thank you. That would be awesome.”_ _ _ _

____x-x-x_ _ _ _

____The barn was warm and dry, just as promised. Charlie couldn’t stop herself from just flopping into the hay bales and leaning against the floor. Her body was aching all over. Her eyelids felt heavy but she knew she couldn’t sleep yet. The barn was large and made of dark brown wood. On the side where they lay was a large stack of hay bales around a small circle of bare floor. Within this patch of floor was where they’d decided to sleep, with their bags thrown haphazardly to one side and a few scattered blankets from inside the house on the other. In the centre of the circle sat a small oil lamp, its flickering light casting the space in a soft yellow glow._ _ _ _

____“So, military huh?” she said, leaning her head back against the bale behind her. Conan padded forward and laid down at her side, resting his head in her lap with a yawn._ _ _ _

____Memo snorted as he shuffled to sit down across from her, inching his way down slowly and using the bales for support. “Honestly? I’m surprised they didn’t just attack immediately. They do it with everything else.”_ _ _ _

____“True,” Charlie agreed. “And the Decepticon’s don’t exactly have the best track record with the government.” Neither did the Autobots either though, she thought sourly. She hoped that that wasn’t still the case however, because she wasn’t sure the good guys would be able to fight two sides at once._ _ _ _

____The mechanic glanced over at her friend, “Those jets they saw were Decepticon’s, right?”_ _ _ _

____Memo nodded. “100%. They’ve moved further inland since we saw them.”_ _ _ _

____A shudder ran down both of their spines, and Charlie scratched at Conan’s head as if it would be a distraction. “I don’t know what they’re looking for,” she said, her voice dark. “but it can’t be good.”_ _ _ _

____With that, they lapsed into silence. Charlie watched the patterns the oil light cast onto the ceiling as they flickered and danced. If she let her eyes unfocus, it looked almost like an aurora borealis. A small, shitty one against the roof of a barn in the middle of California, but it might be the best one she’d ever get to see._ _ _ _

____“Hey, Charlie?”_ _ _ _

____She hummed. Already feeling her mind start to drift and eyelids get heavy._ _ _ _

____“I’m really sorry about your corvette. I know how much it meant to you.”_ _ _ _

____Charlie sighed deeply, shifting slightly to look at Memo. “Thanks dude. But…” she frowned, searching for the words, “but it was gone. I don’t have the tools with me to repair it, and there’s no way we could’ve taken it with us.”_ _ _ _

____Logic helped. If she tried to logic her way out of grief, it made it so that she had no other option, then she didn’t have to feel bad. Then it wasn’t her fault. “If it came down to the car or us, I know which one is the right option.”_ _ _ _

____That didn’t stop the sting in her heart, however. That feeling of loss and frustration. But still, she knew her dad would have preferred her safety over keeping a car._ _ _ _

____They lapsed into silence again. Only broken by the soft sounds of their breathing and Conan shifting slightly in his dreams. Eventually, they both joined the little dog and drifted away into sleep._ _ _ _

____x-x-x_ _ _ _

____Gravel crunched on the long driveway. A dark shape slowly cruising through the long grass that led to the farmhouse._ _ _ _

____Moonlight caught the glass of a windshield as the shape crawled through the shadows. The low purr of an engine the only sound it made as it slowly moved closer, slinking through the night._ _ _ _

____x-x-x_ _ _ _

____Conan’s ears pricked and the little dog’s head shot up. Instantly awake and straining to hear out into the darkness. The sound of metal grating against metal rang out and Conan jumped to his feet._ _ _ _

____The little Jack Russel leapt over the sleeping form of Charlie and padded out into the center of the barn. A low growl started to rise in his throat._ _ _ _

____Outside, something stomped heavily past the barn door. Conan snarled and barked at the noise, shattering the quiet of the night instantly._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Charlie startled awake at the sounds of Conan’s barking and sat up with a jolt, her eyes straining to make out shapes in the darkness._ _ _ _

____Moonlight from outside filtered through small cracks in the walls and underneath the door. In the middle of the floor, Conan was shaking. His hackles raised and his head was low as he barked furiously, snarling to show his fangs._ _ _ _

____Charlie’s heart leapt into her throat as a long shadow stretched out from underneath the barn door, stretching out over the floor and showing the unmistakable positions of two giant legs._ _ _ _

____Beside her, Memo was frozen with fear. She caught his eye and motioned to the hay bales in front of them._ _ _ _

____The two teenagers crawled forwards, pressing their backs against a ledge of hay bale to put something, anything, between them and the thing on the other side of the door._ _ _ _

____Blood rushed through Charlie’s ears and she could feel her hands shaking as she crouched low. She hissed at the dog, “Conan! Come here! Come. Here!”_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____But the little Jack Russel didn’t want to listen, continuing to bark at the barn’s door and being thoroughly unhelpful._ _ _ _

____Charlie swore under her breath and spared a glance at Memo. The boy’s shoulders were shaking and he looked wide-eyed back at her. His frantic gaze said everything she was thinking._ _ _ _

____“They’ve found us, haven’t they?” He whispered, his voice cracking with fear._ _ _ _

____Charlie winced, her own fear strangling her voice. She nodded and clenched her fists tighter._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Slowly, the sound of the barn door creaking open filled the room._ _ _ _

____Her pulse jumped into overdrive, doubling its already rapid rate. Her chest ached as her heart tried to punch its way out from the inside._ _ _ _

____Frantically, she looked around. Across from her, sat her bag with the top flap open, exposing her tool belt where she’d stuffed it._ _ _ _

____She leaned forward quickly, as the sound of heavy footsteps entered the doorway._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Somewhere behind her Conan was still growling._ _ _ _

____Her fingertips brushed the canvas of the bag, just grazing it. Charlie strained desperately. She hooked a finger around the lip of the pack and pulled. The bag tipped over towards her and the tool belt spilt out onto the floor with a clatter._ _ _ _

____She fumbled with the tool belt, running her shaking hands over the tools there, searching for anything that could be a weapon. They were here. The Decepticon’s were here. Holy fucking shit. What the fuck were they gonna do? What could they do?_ _ _ _

____The Decepticon raised itself to his full height, his shadow falling heavily across the room and over the stack of hay bales Charlie and Memo hid behind. Charlie could hear the sounds of machinery whirring as the robot took a step forward._ _ _ _

____An unfamiliar, staticky, but unmistakably robotic voice called out into the darkness. “C-Charlie? Memo?”_ _ _ _

____The blood in her veins ran ice cold. It knew her name. How did it know her name?! Oh god oh shit oh fuck Oh God _Please _. What the fuck did it want with them? Why couldn’t it just go away?!?___ _ _ _

______Her hands grabbed onto the handle of a screwdriver and she wrenched it from her tool belt. She flipped the screwdriver over in her hand and held it tightly, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her head was thick with the rush of fear and hormones. Her thoughts jumbled and erratic, but too fast to track._ _ _ _ _ _

______She squeezed her eyes shut tight as the thing moved closer. Memo whimpered beside her._ _ _ _ _ _

______She was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna die she was gonna d- actually fuck that. If she was gonna die, she was gonna go out fighting._ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie rocked forward onto the balls of her feet, into a crouch and getting one leg up onto the nearest hay bale. She dug her boots into the bale and pulled herself up the stack of hay, climbing to the top with the screwdriver still clenched tightly in her fist._ _ _ _ _ _

______She lifted one foot, then the next. Scrabbling with her hand as she pulled. Her breathing was fast and ragged. Her heart pounding hard in her chest. She reached the top of the stack and launched herself forward. A scream ripping itself from her throat._ _ _ _ _ _

______The air whooshed past her as she flew. Falling towards the hulking shape in the middle of the room. She watched as the robot’s helm snapped up, and familiar blue optics locked onto her own. The mecha’s yellow plating glinted in the moonlight as he tried to raise his arms across his chest defensively. Charlie saw his intake move and that same staticky voice spit out of him. “ChArLIe! [KSCKK] nO! iT's Me!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Recognition slammed into Charlie, and her eyes widened with shock. But by then it was already too late, and the young woman continued soaring through the air. She smashed into his chest plates and Bumblebee toppled backwards to the floor with a loud crash._ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bumblebee: *hacker voice* _I'm in. ___
> 
> __  
> _Also wow Donna,, :):):)) Sadie's your 'friend' huh?? ;););););) yup  
>  jk sorry guys I just needed some characters for a bit and yknow... cute old lesbian couple. vibes._  
> 


	5. Reuniting in the Dark

Bumblebee and Charlie fell, landing heavily on the barn floor with a thump. Charlie yelped in surprise and felt a metal hand quickly curl around her back to ensure she wouldn’t go bouncing off as the impact shuddered through them

Charlie slammed forwards anyway. Her forehead meeting the unrelenting metal of Bumblebee’s bumper and sending a jolt of pain through her skull. 

"Bumblebee?” She groaned in pain, rubbing at her forehead.

Bumblebee hummed underneath her, raising his servos up in a gesture of surrender. In the dark of the barn, his biolights were the only source of light, casting the room into a dull bluish glow that reflected strangely off of the mecha’s faceplates. A small, not very helpful part of Charlie’s brain thought it made him look even more alien somehow. 

“What the fuck?!” Charlie shouted. “You almost gave me a heart attack!” 

She slammed a fist down on his chest plates to emphasise her point, causing Bumblebee to wince a little bit. The screwdriver she had brandished as a weapon was still clenched in her grip, now embedded through a gap in his armour and into the more sensitive wiring underneath. The girl’s eyes widened in shock and she quickly pulled it back out, apologising. The mech relaxed slightly as she did so. 

“S-soRry ChArlie.” Bumblebee’s voice box crackled to life. -- I forGOt -- [KSSH] -- hUMans caN’t --- [KSCHSHHH] -- seE in tHe DaRk.-- 

Charlie froze. Her mind entirely too full of thoughts to process at the moment but all of them clamouring to take her attention. One thing stood out like a bright red warning sign though, and she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. 

“Wait, did you just talk?”

Beneath her, Bumblebee shifted slightly in a shrug.

“Oh, no. You are _so _explaining that-”__

__

__“Charlie?” A voice trembled from the back fo the room and a mop of curly hair popped up above the stack of hay bales. “What’s happenin- Oh My God!”_ _

__Memo’s eyes widened at the sight in front of him, his best friend who only a minute ago had bravely jumped forwards to fight the Decepticon attacker, and an alien whom he hadn’t seen in years but was unforgettable. “Is that Bumblebee?!”_ _

__From the floor, Bumblebee lifted an arm and gave the boy a cheery wave._ _

__Memo blinked, thne shook his head. “Well, that’s way better than a Deception.” The boy gingerly climbed over the top of the haybale and slid down the other side. He strode across the floor towards them. “Conan was going nuts, dude.”_ _

__The little dog in question was sitting, watching his humans and the mech with confusion. He looked up at Memo and wagged his tail uncertainly._ _

__Memo bent over and scratched the dog between the ears, then looked back at Bumblebee. “How did you find us?” He asked._ _

__“Yeah.” Charlie raised an eyebrow. “Not that I’m not relieved it's you, but that’s a good question.”_ _

__Bumblebee shifted slightly underneath her, then started to sit up slowly. He cupped a servo around her again to help steady Charlie as she slid off of his chest and onto the ground. Once he was fully sitting with Charlie and Memo at his feet, he flared his plating quickly. Yellow door wings fanned and stretched out behind him, jostling themselves back into place after being squished awkwardly against the floor._ _

__Satisfied, the yellow autobot leaned forward and looked down at the humans. “It’S a... lONg sTory?” he said, his voice interlaced with static._ _

__Charlie and Memo exchanged a glance, then in silent agreement, sat down on the floor. Memo pulled Conan into his lap as Charlie shuffled over and retrieved the oil lamp that had long since extinguished. Charlie re-lit the lamp, banishing the shadows and bathing the inside of the barn with a warm yellow glow. “We’ve got all night.” She said with a shrug of her own._ _

__As Bumblebee nodded and shifted into a more comfortable position, Charlie noticed that her mind was starting to calm down. Her thoughts and emotions were becoming more cohesive, and she could actually begin to tell them apart now. The anger and fear at Bumblebee’s terrifying arrival was fading, and she felt the relief of having her friend back hit her like a wave. Here he was in front of her, the answer to all the questions she’d been plagued with for the last two years. Alive and unharmed. (Well, except by her.) Her best friend was back, his plating just as sunny and yellow as the day he’d left._ _

__Bumblebee cleared his vocaliser with an audible crackle, making the two humans wince. “AftEr I leFT BriGhton Falls, I reUNitEd wiTh my team. Optimus PriMe and the other AUtoboTs.”_ _

__

__Charlie nodded, remembering the tall, imposing red and blue mech from Bumblebee’s recorded message._ _

__“Our doCTor manaGed to rEpair my vocaLIser bu- [KSSCHCK]” Bumblebee winced, rubbing at his throat cables with a grimace. “THe repair wAS only mOstly succESsful. It still hURTs to tAlk. And I SOund liKe… _tHis _.”___ _

____ _ _

____The human’s looked up at that, both with concern. “You don’t need to talk if that’s the case.” Memo said. “You can use your radio right?”_ _ _ _

____Bumblebee gave an affirmative hum. “BUt I should spEak.” He glanced at Charlie. “This is impoRTant.”_ _ _ _

____Charlie stared back up at her friend, strangely touched by his words. His voice was obviously robotic, with a synthesized quality that was unmistakably inorganic. It was rough, glitching a little and changing pitch on random syllables. On the edge of each word, was the slight grating of static._ _ _ _

____“As soOn as I saw THe decepticon warSHip had arrIved, I [KSSKCHHK] left the oTHers and maDe my way to CaLifornia. We… wE don’t knOw why tHEy’re here. But we’Ve been tryiNg to Monitor thEm, and fIGure out whAt they want with EaRTh.”_ _ _ _

____His doorwings flapped nervously behind him. “As faR as we kNOw, they Don’t knoW we’Re here yet. WE’ve [KSSCHK] offLINed every drOne that’s comE so faR before tHEy couLd RepORt BacK our LoCAtion, bUt…”_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Bumblebee exvented heavily, “I droVe as fAst as I coulD, but I wASn’t quick Enough to cAtch you [KSCK] befoRe yOu left BrigHTon falls. I didN’t know wHere to lOok, buT I figURed you wOuldn’t leaVe without the coRVettE, so I harDlined intO the speED camera netwOrk.”_ _ _ _

____“I’m sOrry I didN’t find you sOoner. TraCking you Down was moRe difFIcult oncE you left the mAin roads.” His vocalizer sputtered out, and finally gave up. He rubbed at his neck cables again and gave the others an apologetic look._ _ _ _

____Memo chuckled. "That's fine buddy, take it easy. You don’t have to keep going if you don’t want to. Honestly, we're just glad you're here.”_ _ _ _

____Charlie nodded and hugged her knees, “But, there’s just one thing - okay actually there are a lot of things - but one main thing I don’t understand. Bumblebee, why did you come back at all? The Decepticon ship is right off the coast, that’s stupidly dangerous!”_ _ _ _

____The yellow autobot seemed to sag a little, but forced his vocoder back online with a harsh grating sound of static. "OffiCially, it’s a scoutINg mission and I'm heRe to scope ouT wHat the [KSCHK] DecePTiconS are dOing. But reAlly I… I haD to make sUre you were alriGHt.”_ _ _ _

____Silence lapsed between them. Filled only with the soft sound of the night outside, and Bumblebee’s vents._ _ _ _

____Finally, Charlie shook her head with a reluctant smile, “...You idiot.”_ _ _ _

____She stood up and hugged Bumblebee’s chestplate. “You big yellow idiot. That’s so, _so _, stupid of you. But I can’t say I’m not relieved.”___ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Charlie felt as Bumblebee’s arm closed around her. She heard a scuffle of shoes on wood as Memo jumped up, laying a hand on Bumblebee's plating._ _ _ _ _ _

______‘I missed you so much, ‘Bee.” She mumbled into his plating, pressing her face against his warm metal._ _ _ _ _ _

______She felt his chest rumble as he hummed back at her, resting his helm gently down on top of her head. "I misSed YOu too. I'm sorRy I left, ChArlie."_ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie had to fight down the lump in her throat. After two long years the words she'd wanted to hear. But she wasn't quite anticipating how they stung. "I'm sorry I didn't go with you." She whispered. Her eyes pricked and she squeezed them shut tightly, hugging Bumblebee harder._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______This was… unexpected. But after the shock had died down, a welcome surprise. Charlie could almost physically feel the weight lift from her chest. Bumblebee would know what to do. She didn’t have to worry and try to shoulder all the responsibility on her own, and it felt like she suddenly had direction again._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Uh, Charlie?” Memo broke in. “Sorry to ruin the moment, but I’m exhausted. Do you mind if I go back to sleep now that we know we’re not going to be murdered in the middle of the night?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie chuckled, but she nodded and pushed away from Bumblebee’s chest plate. “That’s probably a good idea.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______She patted the yellow autobot once more in farewell and walked back to their pile of blankets._ _ _ _ _ _

______Bumblebee buzzed quietly at the pair and transformed into his vehicle mode. The little yellow bug settled down for the rest of the night as well, his engine filling the barn with a soft, contented purr._ _ _ _ _ _

______x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _

______Sunlight filtered in through the barn windows, falling across the floor and dappling the dark wood a lovely shade of gold. The air was warm and only a little dusty from the hay bales, which prickled at Charlie’s nose._ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie rolled over and shifted in her tangle of blankets. Her mind slowly chugging back into consciousness and with it, her memory._ _ _ _ _ _

______She shot up. Tripping over the blankets as she scrambled forwards to peer over the hay bales and out into the wide space of the barn. Her pulse kicked up as she noticed the distinct lack of a Volkswagen beetle._ _ _ _ _ _

______Fabric ripped as she struggled to free her foot from the blanket and stumbled away. She ran towards the door and yanked, pulling the huge wooden door along its rollers in the floor with a rumble._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Cool morning air hit her in the face and sent the hair on her arms sticking up. She leaned out the door with her heart caught in her throat._ _ _ _ _ _

______And there, sitting right outside in the driveway was Bumblebee in vehicle mode. As he noticed her, the yellow autobot jumped a little on his shocks and flashed his headlights. Gravel crunched under his tires as he began to roll towards her._ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie felt herself sigh in relief, and she smiled at her friend. She walked forwards a couple steps and laid a hand on his bonnet. “Thank god ‘Bee. I thought you’d left us.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Bumblebee recoiled a little, then pushed forward into her hand harder. Despite the lack of face, Charlie could feel the apology being sent her way._ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie laughed, and patted his hood. “I know. Thank you.” She meant it. She was incredibly grateful he’d come back for them. But with morning and a clearer head than before, she’d also started to feel disquieted. This was almost too convenient, she thought. Bumblebee was slipping back into her life far too easily. It had been one night and already she was worried about him leaving again._ _ _ _ _ _

______It felt like two sides of her mind were gearing up for war. Each gathering information and feelings to use as weapons against each other, quietly planning mutual destruction. One side was relieved to have her friend back, and to have the safety that he provided. But the other was beginning to boil. To seethe with things she’d repressed for too long to let loose now. Ugly, selfish thoughts that she would do her best to ignore._ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie said goodbye to Bumblebee and walked back into the barn to awaken Memo and start the next part of their… whatever this journey was going to be. As she did so, her fingers traced the edges of the corvette’s keys in her pocket, and she tried not to think too hard._ _ _ _ _ _

______x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie heaved another of their bags into Bumblebee’s trunk. Her arms twinged painfully and she dropped them into the trunk heavily. She bent over and rested her hands on her knees with a sigh, feeling the ache in her side bloom to life once again._ _ _ _ _ _

______In front of her, Bumblebee flashed his tail lights, and rocked backwards to bump his bumper against her leg. Charlie scowled and swatted at the Autobot, “I’m fine, I’m fine. Don’t be weird.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Just as she finished talking, Sadie rounded the corner of the barn carrying the rest of Memo and Charlie’s things. “Hey Charlie! Here’s the last of them!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie shot a meaningful glance at Bumblebee, then smiled back at Sadie,“Thanks, just put ‘em in the trunk if you don’t mind.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Sure!” Sadie loaded their other supplies into the Bumblebee’s trunk and closed the door with a click. She turned to Charlie, “Are you sure you want to leave now? You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you need.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______She gestured towards the VW beetle. Bumblebee had tinted his windows, thank god, so the obvious lack of a driver was hidden. Once Donna and Sadie had woken up, the two teenagers had told them that a friend of theirs had brought his car over to pick them up, and so far, it seemed that they’d bought it. It wasn’t the best lie Charlie had ever told, but hopefully they wouldn’t think too much about it. “You’re friend’s welcome as well of course.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie smiled at the older woman, but shook her head. “Thank you, but we’d better get going.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______A shuffling noise came from the inside of the barn and they glanced up to see Donna coming out with Memo’s arm looped over her shoulder. Memo was leaning heavily onto the older lady, trying to keep the weight off of his right side. Memo looked up and grinned at his friend. “We got it all?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Everything we need, ” Charlie replied._ _ _ _ _ _

______As Donna held the door open, Memo awkwardly slid into the back seat and tried to position himself comfortably._ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie felt a warm touch on her arm, and she looked down to see Sadie’s hand on her elbow._ _ _ _ _ _

______Sadie smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes this time. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but she nodded anyway. She followed Sadie as they walked back towards the barn and out of earshot, but still within sight of the others._ _ _ _ _ _

______Sadie crossed her arms over her chest and shifted awkwardly. She pushed a stand of hair away from her eyes nervously. “Charlie…” She started, but then stopped. Planning her words carefully. “You two know more about this than you’re letting on, don’t you?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Charlie stilled for a moment, then laughed just a little too loudly. Damn it. She really did need to get better at lying. “No! I mean, no more than anyone else.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Sadie shook her head sadly, her hair falling back into her eyes. “Hmph. Sure. I don’t get it, but I won’t _make _you tell me. Though your lie about that yellow car just ‘showing up’ is flimsy at best.”___ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie cringed, but didn’t say anything._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Can you tell me one thing though?” Sadie asked, the earlier nervousness creeping back into her voice. “...How dangerous are they? Really?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The wind whistled around them, stirring up the grass around their legs into a frenzy and carrying the sounds of Memo’s struggling and Donna’s laughter from across the driveway._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie raised her head and looked Sadie in the eye. Taking in the older woman’s wrinkled skin and creased brow. Her lips pursed in worry. Charlie felt her heart break just a little. For Sadie and Donna, and all the people who didn’t know what the real danger was._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She stared at the ground and clenched her hands into fists. “If I did know something, and I told you to leave. Would you?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Where would we go?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie sighed again, “I don’t know. Just… don’t go outside when those jets are around okay? Don’t let them see you and,” she grit her teeth. “Don’t try to look for them.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Sadie was quiet, but Charlie could almost hear her thoughts from outside. Buzzing with a million questions, but staying miraculously quiet. She nodded her head once, and walked back to the others._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________After a beat, Charlie joined them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie settled into Bumblebee’s passenger seat and glanced into the rearview mirror. She locked eyes with Memo, and quirked an eyebrow. “Ready?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo grinned back. His face set in determination but with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Ready.” He said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie tapped a finger on the window and Bumblebee dutifully wound it down, allowing the girl to stick her head out. She grinned once more at Donna and Sadie, who were standing behind the car to see them off._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie put her fingers to her lips and whistled. Over the long grass a small furry head shot up and then came bouncing through the grass towards them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee swung open the door and Conan jumped up with a bark, scrabbling up the side of Charlie’s jeans before settling in her lap._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Donna and Sadie waved goodbye as the yellow bug pulled away and out onto the driveway. Turning a sharp right around the corner onto the road and disappearing in a cloud of dust._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Skywarp dipped and weaved through the air, dodging a stray missile and spinning effortlessly over to launch into his own volley._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Twin missiles streaked out from his undercarriage and sped through the air. Smoke trailed behind them. The missiles hit an organic fighter jet and exploded with a loud boom. The jet burst into flames and jerked to the side. Skywarp watched with detached interest as the jet fell out of the sky, trailing fire and smoke behind it until it hit the ocean below with an underwhelming splash._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Skywarp banked hard, and popped away in a flash of purple light._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Moments later, he appeared again. Popping back in beside another Decepticon jet with bright green plating._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The green jet recoiled suddenly, losing his concentration and dipping several metres in the sky before he caught himself. “Skywarp!! Warning next time?!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Skywarp internally rolled his optics. “Oh. Sorry, Acidstorm.” He flipped his guns forward and started firing again, picking off more organic jets._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Acidstorm’s field lashed against Skywarp’s plating with irritation. “Primus, the regret just courses off of you in waves. Use your comm. next time,” he grumbled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________With that, Acidstorm took off back towards the ship._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Skywarp circled around the flank of the nemesis, keeping a watchful optic on any plane that went too close. Not that they could do much to the reinforced hull of the Nemesis anyway, but they were annoying. The native military had gotten it into their dumb squishy brains that they had a chance of fighting, and they didn’t seem easily dissuaded. No matter how futile it was._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Their vehicles weren’t even pleasing to look at. Nothing like the sleek lines and angles of their superior Cybertronian forms at all. Though Skywarp was a little curious as to how one would feel._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Still, Skywarp thought as he warped again. Popping back into existence further up the bow of the ship. This was just busywork, and his plating itched to be doing something more._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________His wings cut through the clouds as he flew, carving long lines of vapour trail behind him. With barely a flick of ailerons, he flipped over. His engine whined and he allowed himself to just barely skate along the underside of the hull, watching the metal plating raced by._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Slowly, the hull started to curve upwards and the purple jet followed it, keeping close to the underside of the Nemesis and soaring up its bow. The bow suddenly stopped into a sharp point Skywarp shot up from the underside and out of the clouds._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The sun glinted off his plating as he flew straight up. Pushing his engine until it wouldn’t go any further. Then it stalled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Skywarp paused, weightless for a moment, before feeling the gravity hit his tanks and pull him downward. The purple jet plummeted towards the ship beneath him, gaining speed with every passing second._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Down, down, down, ever closer to the black metal of the ship. The wind rushing past him and tearing at his plating as he fell._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Suddenly a harsh static cut through his audials, ::ALL SEEKERS REPORT TO HANGER 3 FOR BRIEFING. COMMAND TRINE MEMBERS, STOP SHOWING OFF AND GET YOUR AFT DOWN HERE::  
Starscream's voice cut through his processor like a knife and he winced, pushing a feeling of wordless acknowledgement and appreciation across their bond. Even though he knew Starscream wouldn’t reply, the thought was there. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________At the last moment before he hit the deck, Skywarp vanished into another flash of purple light, reappearing moments later above the bow’s surface, transforming just in time to catch himself with his heel thrusters._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He touched down with a bounce and took a couple steps before he warped again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Skywarp popped into the back corner of Hanger 3, right into a pile of loading crates._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The purple jet swore as he stumbled over, knocking one of the crates to the floor with a crash as he fell. The box opened as it hit the floor and junk spilled out in a clatter of noise and mess. Skywarp cringed and tried to extricate himself from the pile. “Ugh! Why do mechs keep moving stuff around?!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________A blue servo reached into view and Thundercracker’s voice came from above him. “Just stop warping everywhere and it wouldn’t be a problem,” he growled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Skywarp rolled his eyes, but grabbed his trinemates’ hand with a huff._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Thundercracker pulled Skywarp out of the pile and watched with disapproval as he attempted to dust himself off. Finally satisfied, they walked into the middle of the hanger to find Starscream standing with his back to them. The red and blue mech was muttering to himself, and pouring over a datapad. Too deep in his own helm to notice them.  
Without a word, Thundercracker and Skywarp settled into place behind their leader. Arms crossed on either side, waiting for the address to begin. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Before too long had passed, every seeker stationed on the Nemesis had assembled. Lining up in disorderly rows they murmured amongst themselves._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Starscream stood in front of them, the datapad clenched in his digits. He held it up and glared at the crowd assembled before him. “In this datapad are all the reports from every scouting mission over the last few cycles. Not a single one of them has found anything of note.” He spat._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Surely, I don’t need to remind you what we’re doing here on this disgusting mudball!” Starscream shouted, his wings flaring out angrily behind him. “But then again, apparently your helms are too thick to even do one simple task!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Starscream’s field lashed through the room, furious and sharp. He invented shakily, visibly trying to compose himself._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Okay, _fine _. Our scouts detected energon radiation in the atmosphere of this planet, can anyone tell me what that means?” His words were calm but his voice was low and dangerous.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He looked over the crowd of his seekers, all of them pointedly avoiding his gaze. Starscream clenched his denta and pointed at a random mecha in the crowd. “You. Blackout. Care to explain?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The seeker in question paled, “M-me sir?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yes you, you half wit.” Starscream rolled his optics. “Tell me the significance of energon being detected in the atmosphere.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Blackout reset his vocaliser with a click. “Um, well, it means that there’s…. Energon here?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Starscream had to physically stop himself from screaming. Or shooting the mech. Whichever would ease his rapidly growing temper the best. “No wonder we haven’t found anything yet.” He muttered under his breath._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The red and blue commander lifted his voice to address all of his seekers. “Ok. I’ll spell it out for you in a way your tiny processors can understand. Energon is a mineral composite. If there’s enough energon radiation to show up on mere atmospheric readings, then that means there has to be a large amount of energon on the planet itself.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________A wicked grin split his face, “Real energon, and that much of it, would give us power beyond our wildest dreams.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Starscream threw his arms out wide, “With that much power, that much potential, we could do anything! The Autobots won’t stand a chance against our might!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The crowd erupted into cheers, mecha throwing their fists up and whooping._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“But.” Starscream continued, his red optics blazing. The cheers died instantly. “First we need to locate it. Something you imbeciles have failed to do!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________A low, flat voice cut in from behind him. “That may be because you’re looking in the wrong place.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Starscream bristled and whirled around. Thundercracker and Skywarp took a step backward and out of the way of their leader’s wrath.  
“Shockwave.” Starscream growled. “You’d better have a very good reason for interrupting.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________A large mech stepped forward out of the shadows. His plating was purple and dark, with his left arm fused into a giant canon. His helm was sharp and angular, the face no more than a dark absence, with one yellow optic glaring out. “Your scouting missions have not yielded results because you are searching in the wrong place.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Starscream flexed his claws at his sides.  
“ _Explain. _” He spat.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Shockwave walked forwards, his steps slow and methodical as he approached the assembly. “If this planet does indeed contain energon, and the indigenous life forms have been living here for thousands of years, then it is unlikely any would be found on the surface itself. The organics have likely mined or otherwise moved it all to make way for their own construction. Doing mere fly-by reconnaissance would not be enough to locate the energon deposits. It is therefore only logical, that the energon deposits would be located under the planet’s surface.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Starscream scoffed and waved a hand dismissively at the mech. “You think I haven’t considered that? Really, Shockwave. I expected better from you. Of course we’ve been running scans of the ground beneath the squishies’ land.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Shockwave’s field was cold as ice as he leaned into the commander’s space, uncaring of their audience. “Your scans are sub-optimal. They do not account for the level of detail or numerous variables that they should. Something that would have been avoided if you had come to me with this first.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Why you-!” Starscream’s field lashed right back against Shockwave’s angrily. Pride, frustration and hatred flowing out across the room. A few mechs in the front row winced._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“You forget your place, Shockwave! I am the commander of this vessel, and I will not have my authority disrespected!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The biolight’s on his cannon brightened, and Shockwave raised his arm. From the barrel of the canon sparked a hologram that shot up into the air above them. Shockwave turned to address the crowd and tipped his head towards the projection. “Using my refined scanners, we can see the areas most likely to contain energon deposits.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The hologram itself showed a blue outline of the Earth spinning slowly, with the moon visible just behind the planet. On the Earth’s surface the continents were clearly visible with highlighted red spots that fit the requirements to grow energon within the crust and mantle of the planet. Shockwave’s optic was still and emotionless. “Instead of your futile current plan, you should concentrate your search in these areas instead.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Starscream’s plating was practically steaming, and he clenched his denta. Hard. His glare was hotter than molten slag as he forcefully held himself back from strangling the scientist._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Thundercracker frowned and sent a pulse through their spark bond. It was roughly shoved back at him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Starscream glanced back at the gathering of seekers in front of him. Looking over the faces staring back at him with wide and judgemental optics. He exvented harshly, “Fine. Seekers! You are dismissed. Updated flight paths will be assigned shortly.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________As quickly as possible, the seekers escaped the room, leaving only Starscream and Shockwave left._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The scientist turned to leave, but Starscream stepped forward and into his path. “You had better watch your step, Shockwave.” He said, curling his lips up to highlight his pointed dentae._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Shockwave stared down at him dispassionately. His single optic blank and devoid of any expression, but still somehow conveying exactly how much loathing he held for the other mech. “Starscream… Our lord appointed me to this vessel to watch you. To keep you in line and in subservience to his majesty. By the time that we bring the energon back to our master, you and your underlings had better have proven yourself useful. Until then, it is you who should be watching yourself, as I will not hesitate if you step out of line.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________With that, the scientist brushed past and walked out of the hanger. Leaving Starscream to stew in his rage._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so ya I'm changing up how Bumblebee talks (for not) to make it sound more static-ky. Hang in there it's only for a little bit i swear lol


	6. On the Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is shorter than usual, brain decided to call it quits here.

As soon as they were out of view, Charlie shunted Conan into the backseat, where Memo caught him with a startled gasp. 

She tapped on the gearstick in silent request and Bumblebee quickly shifted it forward, allowing her space to scoot over into the drivers’ seat. Gingerly, whilst trying not to jostle her ribs too much. After the strenuous almost-attacking-Bumblebee last night, and the excitement of the last few days, they weren’t having a fun time. 

Charlie closed her fingers around Bumblebee’s steering wheel and relished in the feeling.. “God, I missed sitting here,” she said with a slight chuckle.

Bumblebee’s dashboard buzzed and his radio chirped out a few happy notes from a random pop song. “I [KSCH] misSed hAVing you TheRe.” 

“I’m here too, y’know.” Memo’s face popped into the space between the seats, complete with a pout. Barely keeping Conan on his lap as he leaned forwards. The little dog also had his head stuck out the window making him even more of an obstacle. “I also wanna be included!”

Charlie chuckled and pushed his head back. “We know, Memo. You’re pretty hard to forget.” 

Bumblebee laughed as well. A synthetic sound that changed pitch with a smattering of static, but still infused with a musical quality. “You’Re [KSCCHK] not allOWed to dRIve.” 

“ _Hey! _Why not?!”__

__Rolling her eyes, Charlie rolled down the side window. “You don’t even know where we’re going, Memo. Although to be fair, neither do I.” She looked at Bumblebee's dash expectantly. “Well?”_ _

__Bumblebee hummed. “I’m goINg to takE you [KSSCHK] tWo back to bASe with mE.”_ _

__“Really?” Charlie sat up straighter. “I thought you had a mission here? Don’t you have to do that first? Find out what the Decepticons are up to or… or whatever.”_ _

__“Yeah, I thought that was like, your whole job,” Memo said with a frown._ _

__Bumblebee sighed, which was a weird thing to hear coming from the dashboard of your car. “TecHnICally, yeS. But my [KSCH] fiRst priority is to geT my friENds to saFety.”_ _

__“BesiDEs,” he continued, “the ‘coNs aren’t exACtly [KSSSK] being sTealtHy.”_ _

__

__“The NemEsis has been rooTed off the COast for tHe last few days, and tHey aren’t using any cloAKing teChnoloGy or even trYing to hiDe.” [KSCHCCK] Bumblebee coughed suddenly, the static grating through his invents. “A-and, theY’re fiGHting off the humaNs in bRoad dayliGht, albeit in alt-mODe.”_ _

__“Why would they do that?” Charlie asked. “Why would they be so stupid?”_ _

__Unintentionally, her mind went back to Dropkick and Shatter. They were terrible yes, but not stupid. Okay, well, maybe Dropkick was stupid. But the Decepticon’s on the whole seemed far too devious and cunning to do something like this._ _

__“They doN’t [KSCK] knOW we’re here, so tHey don’t sEe a reaSOn to hIde.”_ _

__Memo piped up again from the backseat, “How can that be possible? Like, no offense ‘Bee, but as a giant alien robot you’re not exactly easy to hide.”_ _

__Bumblebee’s voice box whined with the strain of the continual talking, but he pushed through, the static deepening and warping his words slightly more. “All the AuTObots have bEen using signAl dampENers [KSCKCSCKCKHSK] since we arRived. They cAn’t traCk our sPark signals, and we’re very carEFul not to transform in Public. At preSEnt, neither the ‘coNs nor the human pUBlic know we’re hEre.”_ _

__“AlthOUgh, given the DeCepticons’ [KSK] actiOns who knoWs how LOng that’Ll last.”_ _

__

__“Alright, a lot of words I don’t know and will definitely be asking about later, but most importantly, what does that mean?” Charlie asked. She gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as if to comfort her friend._ _

__“It means,” Bumblebee said with an audible grin. “That we can sEe exactLY where tHey are, but they caN’t see anyTHing of us.”_ _

__Charlie leaned forwards, apprehension and excitement twirling in her gut. “Where are they now?”_ _

__“CircCLing over the west coAst of this contiNEnt. [KSCKCKHKCKCKK] They’re travelliNg in small grOUps, but we still don’t kNOw where thEy’re goiNg.”_ _

__The apprehension in her gut won. “Donna and Sadie said it was like they were looking for something.”_ _

__“ThaT’s [KSKCK] what I feAr.”_ _

__The trio lapsed into silence for a moment, each thinking over what Bumblebee had said._ _

__Memo broke the silence with a slight cough. “So, if you’re taking us to your base, will we still be able to find our families?”_ _

__

__Charlie’s head shot up and she nodded enthusiastically, feeling a bit guilty that she’d forgotten about her family. Even though it might have been excusable under the circumstances. “Yes! We weren’t with them when the earthquake hit, so we were separated!”_ _

__Bumblebee gave a note of surprise, and then he hummed an affirmative. “I’m [KSCKKKCKK] suRE we cAn do someThiNg.”_ _

__Charlie squeezed the steering wheel in thanks and felt as the seatbelt across her chest tightened in response. It felt sort of like a hug, and also a little like Bumblebee was making sure she was still there._ _

__

__“Hey Bee?” She asked, her eyes sparking with an idea. “Do you have any tunes?”_ _

__Bumblebee buzzed in delight and his radio crackled. A cheesy announcer voice came on, clipped straight from a radio station and making Charlie roll her eyes. “Ladies ‘n’ gents, buckle up for another round of the best music this side of the equatorial line!!!!!”_ _

__Despite their tiredness from all that had happened over the past couple days, Charlie and Memo still joined in with the opening lines of the first song, singing song to the beat of the bass as Bumblebee’s wheels ate up the road beneath them._ _

__

__x-x-x_ _

__It was a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time, although really it hadn’t been any time at all. Two years was nothing to a Cybertronian, yet here on Earth, two years could be everything._ _

__His vocoder was raw and stung like the pit, but he didn’t regret a single word. It was more than he’d been able to share with his friends for… well, ever, really. Since he hadn’t met them until after Blitzwing had ripped his voice box out. It was something new, and something exciting because of it._ _

__Primus, he was so glad he’d found them. It had been a near thing. He’d almost lost the trail more times that he’d like to admit. The soldier in his processor had wanted to turn around and go back to base anyway. To retreat and be where he was needed if Optimus wanted him. The scout in him had wanted to chase down the Decepticons and interrogate them. Demand to know what they wanted from Earth._ _

__

__But the part that won was the scared mech who’d woken up in Charlie’s garage and not known what was happening. Only that the small organic in front of him seemed kind. That part spurred him to keep going, and now he was so glad it did._ _

__As his tires tore along the road, and flecks of asphalt flicked back up into his undercarriage he hardly even noticed the burn of his engines running low on fuel. Inside his cab were two people who relied on him. He could feel Charlie’s fingers tapping absentmindedly on his dashboard along to the music. If he could’ve, he would’ve grinned so wide right then._ _

__x-x-x_ _

__It wasn’t until Charlie’s stomach started growling that she realised how long they’d been driving. She went to take a drink of water to make her stomach shut up, but Bumblebee had already noticed._ _

__He turned down the music blaring from the radio, and buzzed a questioning note._ _

__“I’m fine Bee, just hungry,” Charlie said. “We can keep going.”_ _

__The steering wheel underneath her hands shook and wrenched itself from her grip. Bumblebee started to pull over to the right side, looking for an exit despite the glare Charlie was shooting at him._ _

__“God. You’re just as bad as my mom,” Charlie said with a sigh, giving up and allowing her friend to pull off the motorway and into a truckstop._ _

__Memo yawned from behind her, and then suddenly a mop of curly hair popped into view. “Can you really complain though? I’m starving.”_ _

__Charlie pushed his head back through the seats with a snort, “You’re always hungry, Memo. That’s not a new thing.”_ _

__

__She could practically feel his shrug and cocky grin through the seat. “What can I say? I’m a growing boy.”_ _

__

__Bumblebee pulled up into an empty parking spot and let his engine idle. The seatbelt across Charlie’s chest unclasped and retracted. The driver’s side door swung open and warm summer air hit washed in from the outside._ _

__“ _Alright! _Alright. I’m going. I’ll get us something to eat.” Charlie carefully slipped out of the car, mindful of her sore chest and aching muscles. As she stood and stretched, she took in their surroundings.___ _

____In front of her was a generic roadside convenience store. Not too different from the one that she and Memo had broken into a couple nights ago. Except for one major difference, this one actually had people inside. Not many, sure, but people nonetheless. Beside the store was a row of petrol pumps, and beyond that the motorway itself again._ _ _ _

____On the left was rows and rows of fields, all growing miscellaneous crops that she couldn’t for the life of her name. Maybe… corn? On the right side, was the start of a large and dense forest._ _ _ _

____Seeing the darkness of the trees Charlie got an idea. “Tell you what,” She said, turning back to her friends. “When I get back, let’s all stretch our legs a bit.”_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____A few minutes later, Charlie returned to the parking lot laden with two plastic bags in her arms and her wallet tucked precariously into her back pocket. As she approached, she noticed that the VW beetle wasn’t in its space any more._ _ _ _

____Fighting down an instant swell of panic Charlie spun on the spot, scanning wildly._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____There! Alongside the fuel pumps, was a familiar bright yellow paint job. Once she noticed him, she also saw the flash of yellow metal and a robotic arm quickly hang up a fuel pump and transform back into Bumblebee’s trunk._ _ _ _

____As she got closer, she heard the audible snap of Bumblebee’s fuel cap slotting back into place. The driver’s side door swung open once again in invitation._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Charlie slapped the top of Bumblebee’s hood as she climbed into the cab. “Bumblebee!” She huffed. “What if someone had seen that?!”_ _ _ _

____She knew he couldn’t in this form, but she could’ve sworn the scout shrugged. “I chEcked [KSCHKK] firSt. TherE’s no one aROund, and no cAmeRas eithEr.”_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____In a lower voice, he added. “It’s sAFe, CharLie. I prOmise.”_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Charlie shook her head in exasperation, but relented. The plastic bag in her lap was warm and comforting, so she chose to focus on that instead as they pulled away from the curb._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____The forest looked exactly the same from the inside as it did from the outside; full of trees. Rows and rows of pine trees planted in tall intimidating lines that reached up and left only a sliver of visible sky above.  
With the low lighting and dense foliage, it was like another world. Completely hidden from any prying eyes and filled with the soft sounds of leaves rustling and distant birdsong. _ _ _ _

____They pulled into a small natural clearing beneath the trees with enough space for Bumblebee to transform. Each side was surrounded by trees with their roots stretching out and pushing up the earth in a few places around the edge. The branches of the trees above wove together enough to hide them, whilst still giving enough light to see._ _ _ _

____Dirt and moss made up the forest floor, along with a few stray shrubs that had somehow managed to find enough light to live by. On one side of the clearing ran a small stream, burbling through a few rocks and cutting a channel through the dirt._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Bumblebee opened the back door and Conan sprang out, rushing off into the undergrowth and disappearing in a trail of rustling leaves._ _ _ _

____Charlie got out and walked around the hood, helping Memo slide out and holding him steady. Seeing that the two teens were clear, Bumblebee rolled backwards a few yards and transformed into his robot mode. He stretched and his arms above his head and the sound of his pistons popping back into place bounced around the trees._ _ _ _

____The scout finished stretching and settled down on the ground. Tucking one leg over the other. He watched as Charlie and Memo sat down nearby, spreading out the plastic bags like makeshift picnic blankets and setting their food on top._ _ _ _

____From one of the plastic bags, Charlie pulled out a few strange-looking boxes. One the side of one, Bumblebee could just make out a red cross similar to the one on Ratchet’s own plating._ _ _ _

____He leaned forward and buzzed at her inquisitively._ _ _ _

____Charlie glanced back up at him, and seeing his puzzled expression, smiled. “These are for us, since we didn’t think to bring our own first aid kit.”_ _ _ _

____Memo groaned, his face already stuffed with a warm burger. “Mhm, D’we haf to?”_ _ _ _

____“Yes. Yes we do.” Charlie said firmly, reaching forward to grab her own burger before her friend could snag that too. “We’ve got to do something about your ankle too.”_ _ _ _

____Memo groaned again, although this time it was much more disgruntled. “Uggggghhhhhh. FINE. But I’m kicking you with my good leg if you make it hurt.”_ _ _ _

____Bumblebee watched, his optics flickering between his friend’s faces uneasily._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Charlie took a bite of her burger and ripped open a pack of antiseptic wipes. She handed one to Memo, and then began to scrub at the grazes littering her own skin._ _ _ _

____The previous night she’d managed to clean a fair bit of the grit and dirt from her grazes, but not nearly enough for Charlie's liking. She pulled the fabric of her jeans apart and winced as she placed the wipe down on her knees. It had stopped bleeding long ago, but the sting of the antiseptic still hurt like a bitch. The rips in her jeans, whilst fashionable, were not ideal for crawling through rubble and hard travelling. She tugged on the denim and exposed more of her knees.  
With gentle fingers, she tried to pick out as much dirt and glass as she could before she moved on to her hands and forearms. Aside from that, there wasn’t much they could do._ _ _ _

____God, she felt gross. It’d been way too long without a shower. Or even just a change of clothes. She’d give anything just to wear a different shirt, even if it was hideous and three times too big. Charlie didn’t even want to think about how she must look, (let alone smell), right now._ _ _ _

____It was a bit of a struggle with the right arm, since she had to twist to reach her elbow with her left hand. The movement pulled on her chest and another stab of pain lanced through her. Charlie sucked in a harsh breath._ _ _ _

____Bumblebee tensed up. He buzzed at her in concern._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____She gave a strained smile and waved him off. “It's nothing. Memo is way more injured than me.”_ _ _ _

____“Speaking of,” She turned to the boy, putting down her wipe. “Let’s have a look at that leg, huh?”_ _ _ _

____Memo froze, and hurriedly swallowed the last of his burger. He sighed and shuffled closer to Charlie, extending his leg for her to inspect._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____The boy’s ankle was swollen and hot to the touch. On either side of the joint, they’d secured some thin boards of wood (rescued from the garage) with strips of fabric. The knots were starting to loosen and the boards had shifted sideways. One of them had splintered on the bottom and had left a blister on the side of Memo’s foot._ _ _ _

____Charlie shook her head and looked up at her friend. “You’ve been walking on this _way _too much. Why didn’t you say anything?”___ _ _ _

______Memo shrugged, but avoided her gaze._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______She huffed and got to work unwrapping the splint to readjust it and re-tie the wood back into place. Standing, she grabbed one of the napkins from their lunch and poured a splash of water onto it. Memo relaxed as the cool of the napkin soothed the hot skin. She unwrapped a plaster and put it over both sides of his ankles, hopefully to prevent any further blistering._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Once she’d finished, Charlie tugged the splint back into place and he yelped. His good leg lashed out and connected with her thigh, hard._ _ _ _ _ _

______Instantly, Bumblebee was by her side. The scout narrowed his optics at Memo and glared._ _ _ _ _ _

______Memo gulped and shifted back slightly. “Hey. I warned her!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Charlie sat forward and punched Memo with her good arm. “Oh, fuck you.  
I’m fine Bumblebee, he’s just an asshole.” _ _ _ _ _ _

______She rummaged through the bag of truck top medicine and pulled out a pot of anti-inflammatory cream. Charlie offered the pot to Memo and he took a scoop to rub on his ankle while she took her own scoop of the white cream._ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie turned away from the others slightly and lifted the hem of her shirt up. The air of the forest was cool against her bare skin and she had to fight back a shiver. Ugh, another thing she was really starting to miss, a change of bra._ _ _ _ _ _

______The cream was a weird cold-hot on her skin and it burned, but in a good way? The skin over her ribs was tinder and she could feel the heat of swelling. As she spread it over the left side of her ribcage she felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______She looked over her shoulder to see both Memo and Bumblebee staring at her, eyes locked on her chest. Hurriedly, she crossed her arms in front of her. “...What’s up?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Memo frowned and pointed at her side. “That’s a gnarly bruise, dude.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______It was true, over the left side of her ribcage was a deep purple bruise almost the size of her palm. The skin was mottled with specks of bright red through the middle._ _ _ _ _ _

______Bumblebee’s antennae flattened against his head and his vocaliser spit out a whine. He leaned down towards the two humans, and reached out a servo to each of them. One ghosted over Memo’s ankle and the other stopped just short of Charlie’s side. His optic ridges furrowed. “[KSCKCK] YoU’re both HUrt…”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Uh… well, yeah I guess,” Said Charlie. Lowering her shirt and shifting uncomfortably. “But I mean, it’s not that bad.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Memo shot her a look. “ _I _broke my ankle.”___ _ _ _ _ _

________“And you won’t shut up about it either.” Charlie shot back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Hey! Have you had to walk on a broken ankle for three days? I think not-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“[KCCCSKK] SToP!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The humans fell silent. Bumblebee crouched over them. Behind his massive frame, his doorwings were trembling. His vocaliser crackled as he reset it. “You shoUd’Ve [KSCCH] toLd Me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo carefully reached out and placed his hand on the scout’s arm, and seeing he didn’t pull away, patted it gently. “I’m sorry Bee. I guess we didn’t want to worry you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________That didn’t seem to help, as the yellow Autobot looked just as upset. But it didn’t… _not help _either. So, Charlie would count that as a net win. Or a net neutral, technically, but whatever.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“[KSCCK] I shoULd’ve beEn tHere to [KSK] pROtect yoU.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie shook her head with a laugh. “Bumblebee, that’s not your fault. You’ve been off, saving the world or whatever. You don’t need to feel bad for that!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee didn’t say anything._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Really Bee,” She continued. “It’s okay. You’re here now, right?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee looked back up at her, his blue optics practically blazing. “I’m not gOing to [KSCCK] let anYthiNg else haPpen to eithEr of You.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie smiled up at her friend. “We’re not gonna let anything happen to you either, Bee.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________From within the trees, a bark broke through the still air. Charlie, Memo, and Bumblebee all turned as one to see the bushes rustling and shaking as something ran towards them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Conan’s tiny furry body exploded out from a shrub as he leapt into the air, landing with a small thump in front of them, barking again happily. The little dog was positively filthy, covered in dirt and mud, with sticks in his fur and mud covering every inch of him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________His tail wagged madly behind him, and he bounded up to Memo. Memo recoiled as Conan tried to lick at his face. “Ugh!! Conan! NO! No kisses!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie covered her mouth with her palm but couldn’t stop a giggle from escaping. “He just wants to show you how much he loves you, Memo!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The boy squawked indignantly, “Yeah, but he smells So Bad!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Conan whimpered as he was pushed away, and stumbled back onto the ground. He stood his front legs on a tree root and whined._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Metal digits reached forwards and brushed over the little dog’s head. Bumblebee leaned over and hummed as Conan began wagging his tail furiously again. From out of his radio, came the now familiar sound of static, and then the sound of him scanning stations. “How much is that do-ggy in the window,” A man’s voice crooned. “The one with the wa-ggly taaail.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie burst out laughing, which only made her chest hurt more but she was rapidly getting bored of that. Conan barked again and jumped up onto his hind legs, scratching at Bumblebee’s servo._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The scout laughed as well, and rubbed his fingertips down Conan’s back, causing the little dog to jump around in excitement._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Memo sighed dramatically, still wiping dirt from his clothing. “Oh, to suffer the antics of an excitable dog, nature’s greatest test.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie rolled her eyes and stood, keeping her hands on her knees to bend down. “Whattaya say boy? Shall we give you a clean?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee’s doorwings flicked up and he chirped at Charlie, throwing her a thumbs up. Before she could stop him, he’d bent down and scooped Conan up in his arms and carried him across the clearing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Bumblebee wait-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________But it was too late! A fountain of water shot up as Conan was gently but unceremoniously dumped into the stream. The poor dog yelped in shock as the cold water hit his underbelly, then soaked up into his fur._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee knelt and started rubbing his digits over Conan’s fur, as if he were scrubbing him. “GoOd [KSSCK] doG,” He said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie and Memo paused for a moment, then both started laughing again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Bee,” Memo said, trying to choke back his giggles. “Bee, I think he’s good, let the poor little man go.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee gave him a questioning glance over his shoulder but shrugged and obliged. As soon as his servo lifted from Conan’s back, the little dog scrambled up the bank and out of the water. On dry land he planted his paws and shook from head to tail, spraying water everywhere._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee startled, and raised an arm against the offending droplets, watching as Conan booked it away from him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The little dog ran and hid behind Charlie, and she tried to reign in her laughter to no avail. It felt good to laugh, even if it hurt, even if they had a million things to worry about._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Besides, she thought, watching Bumblebee stomp back towards them and settle down like a scorned child. It was nice._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has commented and stuff. It fills my heart with joy and I read (and cherish) every single one. I'm not very good at this, being pretty socially awkward, so I'm sorry I don't reply much. i just wanna let you know I Love You All So Much Regardless


	7. Pretty Sus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for graphic depiction of human death/murder in the first scene.

Three dark shadows raced along the ground. Rippling over the grass and dirt and speeding forward in tight triangle formation. 

Far above the shadows, were the three jets they belonged to. Slick and alien looking jets that shot through the sky like bullets. Everything about them, from nosecone to wingtip was lethal and sharp.

Despite the three jets looking eerily similar, the jet leading was slightly smaller, with purple with blue accents. To the right of her was a larger black and white jet, with red accents. To the left was a jet with the most disgusting acid green paint job you’d ever seen.

The white and black jet swerved in the air, flaring his wing flaps in irritation. “Ugh!” he said, his voice deep and rough. “Are we there yet?”

The purple jet, Slipstream, sighed in irritation. “A little patience wouldn’t kill you, Ramjet. And no, we’ve got a few more kliks to go, so shut your intake up.”

“I don’t know why you bother,” Acidstorm laughed hollowly, “Nothing you say will get through _his _thick helm.”__

__Ramjet growled and swerved violently sideways, clipping Acidstorm’s wings and making the seeker wobble. Slipstream inwardly rolled her optics as the sounds of squabbling increased behind her. She was just about to turn and screech at the both of them when something popped up on her HUD._ _

__She pulled up the alert, a proximity alarm, and grinned to herself._ _

__Coming up fast on their tail, was another one of those pesky human fighter pilots._ _

__“Ramjet! Acidstorm!” she yelled, charging her blasters and speeding up. The missiles beneath her undercarriage dropped down, primed and ready. “I think we've earned a little break, so lets have some fun.”_ _

__Neither mech had a moment to question what that meant before bullets began whizzing through the air around them. Keeping in tight formation the Decepticons wove through the sky, swerving left and right through the clouds and expertly evading fire. The jets banked hard to the left, dipping and weaving through the air._ _

__As one, they turned sideways on their wings and soared up into the sky. Flipping over in a tight barrel roll just to show off._ _

__Slipstream could practically feel the eager anticipation in her comrade’s fields, and she knew it was echoed in her own. ::Well mechs, do we think it’s had enough playtime?::_ _

__In answer, Ramjet and Acidstorm's thrusters ignited with a powerful boom and they shot up into the sky. Only a nanoklik later, Slipstream followed them. Flying high up into the clouds and well above the little fighter plane._ _

__The three jets disappeared into the cloud cover, leaving the human pilot in the air alone. He glanced out the cockpit window warily and double checked the radar. Nothing. The pilot gulped._ _

__From behind came a streak of green and purple, Diving down from far above him and rapidly getting closer and closer. The pilot watched in horror as blasters from underneath the jet’s wings lit up with bright flashes of light._ _

__The air around the fighter plane was filled with plasma blasts, and the plane bobbed unsteadily to avoid them. A bolt hit the underside of the tail and the plane juddered._ _

__Slipstream and Acidstorm were gaining rapidly, the air wishing past their plating. Over the sound of the air and her own guns firing, Slipstream could just make out Acidstorm’s yell. “Where the frag is Ramjet?!”_ _

__Slipstream sped up, her powerful thrusters carrying her swiftly through the air. ::He’ll be here any klik now::_ _

__As soon as the glyphs sent from her comm, a boom echoed through the air. From far above them, a flash of white and red came falling from the sky. A dagger of living metal aimed right for the unfortunate little human plane._ _

__Ramjet smashed into the plane with an earsplitting screech of metal. Smoke exploded out from where the two planes collided. Slipstream and Acidstorm, pulled up alongside just in time to see Ramjet pull away, his plating scratched up and scraped but his field infused with a manic joy._ _

__The top of the plane had been badly damaged, and one wing was barely holding together. As they watched, the plane shuddered and buckled in the air, wobbling dangerously. Inside the cockpit, the organic was frantically striking at dials and lever. It grabbed at the ejector, but Ramjet's impact had crushed the cockpit roof closed._ _

__Acidstorm veered in on the left and clipped his wing against the plane's, steering it blindly to the right. “Let’s finish it!” he said giddily, already charging his blasters for another round._ _

__“Stop!” Slipstream commanded. “I have a better idea, and we're not done playing with it yet..”_ _

__She sped up and rose above the plane, hovering over top of it.Afterall, they could complete a mission and have fun at the same time. Starscream never said anything about that._ _

__“We’re close to the coordinates, why don’t we bring our little friend here along for the ride?”_ _

__

__With that, she lowered herself in the air. She deployed her landing gear and sunk down on top of the fighter plane, pushing it downwards. As damaged as it was, it couldn’t put up a fight, and began to beeline towards the ground.  
The organic inside screamed in terror as the Earth came rushing up towards him, the side of a mountain getting rapidly closer and closer. _ _

__Slipstream watched with a sick satisfaction as the little thing closed its eyes shut tight and tired to brace for impact. At the last moment, she lifted off the back of the plane, transforming and landing on the ground with a loud boom as the plane came down behind her. The nose cone hit the dirt and crumpled, skidding along the ground. Both wings sheared away and the tail ruptured, spilling the insides into the outsides. Earth and stone exploded out from underneath the plane and the trees shook with the sound of the crash._ _

__Finally, the plane came to a rest._ _

__

__Fire from the crashed aircraft cast dancing lights over her plating as Slipstream casually checked her internal map. Yep, right on top of their destination. Who could say she wasn’t good at what she did?_ _

__Acidstorm and Ramjet transformed above her and lowered themselves slowly on their ankle thrusters. The two mecha landed on the dirt and grinned at each other._ _

__“We here, ‘stream?” Ramjet asked._ _

__“Right on target,” she replied, turning to face her comrades. “Now we just need to get those samples for Shockwave an-”_ _

__“-W-what are you?” A strangled voice cut her off. Slipstream spun on her heel to see the organic pilot sitting in the cockpit of the broken and crumpled plane, flames licking up towards it. It's optics were wide and fear practically rolled off of it in waves, if pheromones were any indication._ _

__

__“Well, well, well. Look what’s still alive.” She stalked closer to the plane. “Acidstorm, pull it out of there.”_ _

__Acidstorm walked over to the plane and with one strike smashed the rest of the cockpit glass. The organic winced as shards of glass rained down on it, then yelped as a huge servo closed around its body roughly._ _

__Acidstorm yanked the organic out of the plane and held it up with a sneer. It was an adult male, shivering with fear in his grip and covered in red liquid. The green jet squeezed, and something in the little creature _cracked _. “Disgusting,” he said, and dropped the thing to the ground.___ _

____The organic hit the ground with a pained grunt. It looked up at the three towering behemoths in front of him and whimpered, trying to crawl backwards. “P-please,” it said, “Please don’t kill me.”_ _ _ _

____The three Decepticons laughed. Ramjet stomped hard on the ground, the tremor causing the organic to cry and curl up in a ball. He stomped again, starting to advance._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____::In a moment, Ramjet.:: Slipstream stepped forward and knelt before the little creature. “It doesn’t have a clue what’s going on, does it?”_ _ _ _

____The organic whimpered again, liquid spilling over its cheeks. Its voice was weaker, the words choked out around sobs. “You don’t have to do this, please.”_ _ _ _

____Slipstream grinned wickedly, “Oh, I know.” She tipped her helm forward slightly, giving the signal._ _ _ _

____Ramjet strode forwards and raised one pede, bringing it down _hard _on top of the organic. The pitiful thing’s cries cut off sharply with a sickening crunch.___ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______As Ramjet ground his heel into the dirt, Slipstream stood and turned her attention back towards the mountain they'd landed on._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Well boys, fun’s over. Let's find that energon," she said, pulling a scanner out of her subspace._ _ _ _ _ _

______Who knows? If she was the first to locate a cluster, perhaps Starscream would reward her. She let her field flare out with hunger and determination as the scanner in her hand beeped._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Bumblebee shook his plating roughly, trying to flick off the last of the water. He gave up and Charlie couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of it._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Aw ‘Bee,” she said between chuckles. “I’m sorry about that, don’t you know what happens when a dog gets wet?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Bumblebee leveled A Look at her._ _ _ _ _ _

______“WeLl hEy I-” he started, before his vocaliser spluttered and shrieked with a high-pitched whine of static._ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie and Memo slapped their hands over their ears as Bumblebee’s throat began to spark and he jumped backwards. The yellow scout desperately grabbed at his neck with his servos to try and stifle the noise. Eventually the static cut out, winding down like bad autotune from a drunken DJ._ _ _ _ _ _

______Bumblebee hesitantly lifted his hands away from his neck, and seeing that the awful noise was finished, sagged to the ground again. He tucked his knees up to his chest and folded his arms over his legs. The antennae on his head pinned flat against hishelm as he buzzed a groan._ _ _ _ _ _

______“What was that?” Memo asked. “Jesus Christ, Bumblebee was that your _voice _?”___ _ _ _ _ _

________The yellow scout buzzed again and buried his helm in his arms._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie watched her friend. Despondent and curled up, some sparks still falling out of his throat and skating down his plating. She felt something turn over in the back of her mind, and she sat up with a jolt._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________A grin worked it's way onto her face as she stood up, and walked over to their bags. She rummaged through her pack, pulling out random stuff until she finally found what she was looking for._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Hey, 'Bee,” she spun around, brandishing her tool belt in one hand and pure determination in the other. “I think we could do something about that.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee’s optics flicked from her face, to the belt in her hand, and back again. He leaned backwards, waving his servos and buzzing warily at her. He shook his helm furiously._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“C’mon, Bumblebee. Let me at least have a look.” Charlie walked forwards slowly, fastening the belt around her waist. “I’ve fixed you before, don’t forget.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee raised a single optic ridge, then looked to Memo, pleading for help._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo shrugged, “Don’t look at me! You’re the one with the busted voice, and she’s the most qualified out of all of us.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The scout frowned, but seemed to consider it for a moment. Finally, he leaned back in and settled again. He looked quizzically at Charlie, his gaze clearly saying, ‘what now then?’._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help smiling. “Lay down, so I can actually reach.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee did as he was told and lay down gently on the first floor, carefully positioning himself between tree trunks and wiggling into a position more or less flat. He watched as Charlie walked closer with curious optics._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The mechanic examined the belt around her waist, quickly running her fingers over each of the tools. She pulled out an oil-stained cloth from one pocket and laid it on the ground. On top of the cloth she spread out a few of the more clunky tools._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She beckoned for Memo to come closer. “Nurse? I’ll need your help.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo sighed but shuffled closer regardless, settling down beside the cloth and waiting patiently._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Satisfied, Charlie turned back to Bumblebee. The scout buzzed at her softly. “Okay big guy, I’m just gonna need a bit of a leg up.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She carefully placed one boot on his hip plating and pulled herself up. A servo pressed against her back and helped steady her until she was sitting on the scout's abdomen. She gripped on to his bumper tightly to keep her balance and started to examine the plating on his chassis._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I’ve been practising a lot since we last saw each other, but that was on, like, actual cars, so I’m gonna need a little help here. And who better to know an alien robot's physiology than an alien robot?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Behind her, Memo facepalmed with a groan._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie, truly a master of patience and humility, managed to ignore her friend. She looked up into Bumblebee’s wide blue optics. “I’m guessing your voice comes from some sort of voice box, or vocoder, some kind of synthesiser, am I right?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee nodded._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Alright! Off to a good start! “Is that located in your chest?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee shook his head, and gestured to his throat. He buzzed softly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie shifted up and leaned over Bumblebee’s chassis. She peered into his neck but couldn’t see anything. Just the pistons and cabling that supported his helm. She gripped the center panel of his chest plating and tugged at it experimentally. “Can we remove this?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________In lieu of answer, the scout engaged a small transformation sequence and the center panel split at the top, folding away to expose another section of his under plating._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________This new part of his chassis was unassuming, full of small bits and pieces and armour that had to cover up more important… organs? Charlie was trying not to think too hard lest she get caught up in the semantics._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Whatever. Nestled at the base of Bumblebee’s throat was a small cyclical part inlaid into his neck cabling where a human clavicle might be. Along the sides of the part, Charlie could see the tell-tale discolouration of fresh weld marks. She reached out a tentative and ghosted her fingertips over the metal._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________As she traced along the side, sparks shot out from a gap in the plating and she swore, yanking her hand away._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee shifted underneath her with a worried hum, craning his helm up to look at her. Charlie waved him off, sticking the burnt fingers into her mouth for a moment and gesturing at Memo. “Pass me something to pry with.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo handed up a tool and Charlie hefted it in her hand, testing the weight. She turned back at Bumblebee and gestured for her friend to lie back down. She slotted the edge of the tool underneath the voice box and levered it upwards, wiggling it out of its slot and into the air._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie glanced up at Bumblebee, studying his features for even the slightest hint of pain. “Let me know if it starts hurting.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee hummed an affirmative, but shook his head. He closed his optics and seemed to relax slightly underneath her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________With a pop, the scout’s voice box finally came out of its slot. Charlie held it carefully in her hand, turning it over and inspecting it. It was obviously mechanical, but with organic curves and patterns covering its surface. Attached to it were a myriad of wires that led up into Bumblebee’s neck and down into his chest. Everything about it utterly alien and confusing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie spent what couldn’t have been less than a couple hours pulling apart parts of Bumblebee’s vocoder and piecing them back together again. It seemed as soon as she fixed one problem, she found another that had risen up to take its place. Her fingers were sore and skin slightly scorched_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________With oil and unnamable other engine liquids staining her clothes, Charlie sat up. She nodded at Bumblebee. “Okay bud, try it again. 49th times the charm!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo yawned from where he was leaning against Bumblebee’s side. “53rd, actually.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Shut up,” Charlie said. She turned back to the yellow scout with an encouraging, if not tired, smile._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee seemed to smile back, then cleared his intake with a crackle of static._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________[KICKCHCK]-ello? Charlie? Is it working?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie whooped loudly and threw her hands up in the air, “YES! I did it! I can’t believe that actually worked, holy shit!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She slid off the side of Bumblebee’s abdominal plating and on to the ground, dancing around on the spot. “Bee, you’re talking normal!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo looked between Bumblebee and Charlie in shock. “That worked? That really worked?! Oh my god! Charlie, I had faith in you _of course _, but that actually worked?!”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee sat up and traced a servo over his neck in wonder, smiling down at his human friends. “...T-thank you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie grinned at her friend and spun a wrench around in her hand. She caught the tool easily and raised it to her lips, miming blowing smoke off the top of it. “It’s all in the wrist, boys.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Memo laughed and Bumblebee buzzed happily. Then, as if suddenly remembering that he could laugh now too, Bumblebee hesitantly tried to chuckle out loud._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________It was, to be honest, a very cute sound. Nervous and unsure, but very cute nonetheless. And without the crush of static that had become a constant before, much more personable._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie watched Bumblebee in wonder. His voice was different to how she had pictured it. The laughter was bubbly and that much she expected. But his voice itself was different. It seemed… younger than she would’ve expected. Closer to her own age. With an accent she couldn’t place but one of those that sounds vaguely familiar anyway. It was a nice voice, overall. Warm, and rough in just the right places._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee interrupted her thoughts when he turned his gaze back on her. “Charlie… Thank you. I finally have my voice back.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie smiled and patted his forearm gently. “No problem. It was mostly guesswork. Anything I did was gonna be an improvement.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee laughed, but shook his head. “Even so, I’m amazed. You fixed me! Our medic, Ratchet, had tried but as you can tell it didn’t quite work. Just… Thank you. I can’t wait to introduce you both to the rest of the team.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Ratchet too?” Charlie tipped her head. “He sounds nice.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Ohhhh, he’s not. But he’s got a spark of gold underneath that tough plating, I swear. They all do.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Memo managed to pull himself up into a half-standing position and punched Bumblebee on the shoulder pauldron. “Any friend of yours is sure to be a friend of ours, dude. Honestly, we’re just glad to have you back. And to give our ears a rest."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee nodded. “It’s certainly a relief to be able to talk properly.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Her tools clinked together as Charlie packed them back away into her belt. She wiped the last of the oil and grease off on her jeans. They were already ruined, a little bit more dirt wouldn’t hurt. “I’ll bet. Must’ve been hard to talk to the other Autobots, which kinda seems important.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Hm?” The scout looked over at her, confusion clear on his faceplate. “No? I could just ping them.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie straightened, “Huh?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yeah, huh?” Memo added, quirking one eyebrow._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Uh, well,” Bumblebee rubbed the back of his neck with a servo, “Cybertronians can send messages to one another instantly, from within our processors. Provided we’re in range and have the recipient’s… ‘address’ is a good analogy for it. That’s how I’ve been keeping my team updated on the Decepticon’s movements.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“So, I just spent three hours of my life getting zapped and covered in oil for no reason?” Charlie said with an overly exaggerated sigh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee stiffened, leaning forward and shaking his helm quickly, “No! Not at all!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Aww, he looked so stricken. Charlie had to fight to keep from laughing at his expression, so painfully honest._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Relax, ‘Bee,” She said, shaking her own head. “I’m kidding.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________She grinned up at her friend as he sat back with a relieved exvent. “I’m just glad to know I helped.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Decepticon drones hacked away at the side of the mountain. Digging and drilling a rapidly growing tunnel. Slipstream watched with a smirk as the drones bit away at the rock face, carving through the stone like it was sand._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________In front of her, the drones had cleared out a large enough space in the mouth of the tunnel to act as a sort of entry foyer. Rudimentary tracks were beginning to be laid running through the mouth, connecting the outside to the innermost part of the tunnels as it was being dug. A few drones raced along these tracks, carting out piles of rock and earth from the inside to the outside, where it was dumped, and then pushing the carts back inside to begin the process again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Slipstream groaned and pinched her nasal bridge with a servo. Despite the rewarding sight of progress, the cacophony of clanging drills and laser cutters that filled the tunnel was really starting to get on her nerves._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________She shook her wings and kicked off from the wall, walking out of the mouth of the tunnel and back into the sunlight. Slipstream reset her optics as the sun flashed into her face and she cursed the stupid mudball. Too close to the sun, too wet, too infested. If it weren’t for the chance of energon, she’d have razed it to the ground the second they entered orbit._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________If it were up to her, of course._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________But it wasn’t. She was low on the ladder and seemingly no matter what she tried to do, she couldn’t move up. What she needed was a chance. A breakthrough. Something to prove herself to Starscream and show what she could offer._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________As she walked out onto the mountainside, Slipstream barely noticed the drones milling around her. Above her, the distant shapes of Acidstorm and Ramjet flipped through the sky. Ugh, far be it from them to do anything useful._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________At least she was in charge of some semi-competent mechs for the moment though. Drones weren’t much, but they could do the jobs they were programmed for. Slipstream watched them rush by with a distant curiosity. All identical except for altmode. With the same dark grey paint jobs and faceless helms. The only colour on their bodies was their biolights and visors. She suppressed a shudder as one walked by her, staring blankly ahead._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________They could be so Primus-damn creepy. Blank faces and the lack of fields, only shards for sparks. Like they were alive but also… weren’t. Which made sense. Despite how Cybertronian they looked, they weren’t built to be ‘alive’ after all._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Slipstream reached into her subspace and pulled out a metal box. She flipped the box over in her hands, exposing a wide and flat screen. Pressing a button on the side of it activated a small transformation sequence and the box unfolded into a small handheld communicator, complete with keypad and scanners._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________She typed in a code and waited while the communicator whirred. Curse the connection on this mudball._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Finally, the connection with the Nemesis secured and Starscream’s face appeared on the screen. Glowering. “What?” he snapped._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Sir!” Slipstream dipped her helm. “Mining is going as planned, site 12B is progressing on schedule.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Starscream paused for a moment, then scoffed. “Is that all you had to tell me? You waste my time with log updates?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Wha-No!” Slipstream spluttered. “No, no, not at all sir! It’s just, I have a very good feeling about this one, and I thought-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He interrupted her with a groan. “Ugh, Slipstream. I _don’t _care. I want to know if you’ve found anything actually useful.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Well… not yet, sir, but-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Something was smiling on Slipstream that day, because just as she was floundering, a driller drone ran up to her buzzing and chirping. She tried to wave it away but it was insistent, waving its arms around to catch her attention._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“-one moment, sir.” She muted the communicator and cut off Starscream’s angry squawk. “What is it?!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The drone tried to grab at her wrist and she yanked her arm away before it could touch her. She sneered, and allowed her field to fill with disgust as it whipped around her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The drone wasn’t fazed however, and turned away back into the mine. It disappeared down the tunnel and Slipstream, begrudgingly, followed. As she walked she noticed with increasing dread that almost every drone in the mine had stopped moving. They had all just… stopped. Putting down their tools and facing deeper into the mine._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Slipstream squinted her optics. A faint glow was coming from deep inside the tunnel. Reflected back up the shaft and bathing everything in violet the deeper and deeper she walked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Finally, she turned a corner and found the end of the mine. Standing before the wall and awash with the purple light was a small collection of mining drones. The driller drone that had bothered her outside was there, staring at the wall. As she approached, the drones turned to look at her, then backed away buzzing softly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Slipstream gasped._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Where the miners had just broken through, was a seam of glimmering purple stone. Shiny and faceted it ran up the wall and disappeared into the rock again. Slipstream reached out to it, feeling a strange and unfamiliar heat coming off of it. It was something she’d never seen before, having been sparked after Cybertron’s golden age, but the deepest part of her processors recognised it for what it was. Energon. Real, actual, proper energon. It was warm to the touch, and sent a pleasant buzz through her hand and up into her arm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________She flipped the communicator back open, eyes still glued to the rock in front of her. “-LIPSTREAM HOW _DARE _YOU PUT ME ON HOL-”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Starscream.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“-AM I JUST SURROUNDED BY IMBECIL-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“ _Starscream, _” Slipstream flipped the screen around to face the rock, letting the glow of the energon fill the video. “We found it.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Starscream’s rant cut off with a choked noise, and he leaned in closer. Trying to see through the screen as much as possible. His spark stilled in his chest._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________Holy slag, _he thought. _Those morons actually did it. _They finally found it. It was just as beautiful as in his youth. Although, he didn’t remember it being quite so... purple.____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________A grin began to sneak onto his faceplates. “Slipstream? Not as terrible a job as you could have done. Prepare for my arrival, I want to see our ticket to victory in person.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Bumblebee was just waiting for Charlie and Memo to load the last of their supplies back into his trunk. Something that shouldn’t have taken as nearly as long as it did, but he didn’t mind. They were his friends, and they’d had a rough couple of days. He was absolutely fine with them taking it easy._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Unless, of course, something strange pops up on his HUD._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Bumblebee couldn’t stop himself from startling on his shocks, rocking forwards and making Memo yelp in surprise. The boy wobbled and missed the scout’s trunk, accidently dropping his bag onto the ground._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Memo stumbled backwards awkwardly, trying not to overbalance on his one good leg. “Dude! What the hell?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“I’m sorry Memo, I was surprised. A mass of Decepticon spark signatures just appeared on my radar.” The scout said worriedly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Memo immediately sobered, and Charlie stood up from where she was packing up their picnic a little distance away. “...How many is a mass?” she asked hesitantly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“I’m not certain, but a lot. They’re all converging on one spot too, a mountain not far from here.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“What are they doing?” Memo asked. “What could they want with a random mountain?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Charlie walked closer to the others, her hand rubbing at her face in thought. “Donna and Sadie said it was like they were looking for something…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Then maybe they’ve found it.” Bumblebee gave a strained exvent. “Listen. I’m a scout, gathering intel on the enemy is what I do. The Decepticon’s presence alone risks the life of every person on this planet, and all I want is to keep you and my team safe. Right now, we have no idea what they’re doing here, and that makes them dangerous.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“And,” he continued, “They’re close. Really close. I need to figure out what they’re after.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Charlie nodded and tried to smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “We know, ‘Bee.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Yeah!” Memo added. “Besides, it's not like _we _could go and do recon.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Bumblebee visibly recoiled, as much as he could in alt mode. “No! Absolutely not! I’ll find somewhere safe for you two and be back quick. You won’t even miss me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________He rolled forwards and opened his front doors, beckoning. While Memo awkwardly lowered himself into the passenger seat, Charlie scooped up Conan. The two humans settled into his cab solemnly, and he desperately wished he wasn’t making a huge mistake._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i swear they're gonna meet up with the other autobots soon ;^;
> 
> anyway, i really hope yall are having an awesome day/night or whatever wherever you are ;)


	8. Picking on the Little Guy is Good Sport

During the long and tense drive the humans and Bumblebee watched as the Decepticon’s position on the radar grew nearer and nearer. The scout tracked them on his own HUD, and projected a minimised version out of his dash for his friends. A projection that both Charlie and Memo had their eyes glued to. 

Luckily, the Decepticons weren’t too far up the mountain. Unluckily, there was a town fairly close, situated at the base of the incline and where the Decepticon signal was coming so strongly from. 

Memo and Charlie watched out the window as they rolled through the small town. Dinky, quaint. A few businesses lined the town center, with houses scattered between them. Behind them the town’s residential area stretched up and back up the foot of the mountain, stopping flush with the rock face at a small cliff that rose behind the town. A small square with a well-maintained park and a bubbly fountain sat in the middle as Bumblebee drove through. Parked in front of an arts and crafts store was a news van, probably doing a piece on the “Shocking Rise in Button Prices on the East Coast” or something equally mundane. 

Bumblebee turned into a small alley, not much but enough to hide from prying eyes. He popped his doors open. “Alright, this is where you two get out.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it.” Charlie shook her head as she stepped out onto the street. “You could act a little less keen to get rid of us,” she teased.

“Charlie… you know that’s not true.” 

The girl sighed, crossing around his hood to help Memo out as well. “Yeah dude, I know. I was just kidding.”

Bumblebee hummed, but didn’t respond. His CPU was already scanning over a thousand different strategies to form a plan, and he could feel his soldier coding starting to kick in. 

“Hey man,” Memo interrupted his thoughts, laying a hand on his hood gently (the other holding Conan tight against his chest). “Are you gonna be okay?”

“I’ll be fine. I was practically built for this after all.” Bumblebee said, flaring his field out with reassurance. Forgetting for a moment that the human’s couldn’t feel it. Still, the thought was there. 

“Memo? Charlie?”

They looked up at him in unison. 

“You need to stay safe. Stay hidden. If something happens to me- and it won’t-” he said quickly, cutting them off before either could protest, “-you need to keep going and get to safety. Get to Utah and find the military, and tell them I sent you. Ask for Optimus.”

Charlie bit her tongue and nodded as her friend reversed out of the alley and back into the square, turning the corner quickly and disappearing out of sight. Faintly, she felt Memo’s hand squeeze her shoulder and she leant into the contact.

He was gonna be fine. It would all be _fine _.__

__x-x-x_ _

__Dirt and rocks rolled under his pedes as Bumblebee quickly scaled the side of the mountain, watching on his HUD as he grew nearer and nearer the Decepticon’s signals._ _

__He expertly wove through the trees, keeping to the shadows and making sure to stay out of sight. Surprisingly, even though he was a bright yellow mech, he was very good at staying hidden. Having stealth protocols embedded in his processor that he could activate at any time helped a lot with that._ _

__

__Ahead of him, he could just make out the edge of the treeline, making a small clearing in the forest that covered the mountainside. The scout slowed and crouched just within the shadow of the trees. He peered out into the clearing using the foliage and shadows to hide himself._ _

__The clearing was fairly large, and roughly circular in shape. The ground was littered with crushed tree branches and stomped down grass, trunks and trees ripped out of the ground and cast aside into rough piles. Decepticon drones stomped around. Some sorting through massive piles of dirt and rock, whilst others pushed mine carts along hastily-laid tracks on the ground. The tracks led back into a deep hole carved tino the side of the mountain, which glowed faintly from the inside. Bumblebee couldn’t tell how deep the tunnel stretched back into the mountain, but judging from the amount of dirt removed and the echoey sounds of clanging and drilling, he could estimate a fair way._ _

__The clearing was full of the noise of bustle. The drones clattering and buzzing to each other creating the perfect cover for the Autobot scouts' movements, A purple and blue seeker stood just inside the mouth of the cave, barking orders to the mecha around her._ _

__To the femme’s side, was a cart that seemed to be glowing with the same strange purple light as the cave. The seeker femme stiffened, then turned to face into the cave, talking to someone unseen._ _

__A drone emerged, bowing its helm in and walking towards her quickly. In its arms it carried a small pile of glowing purple crystal, which it quickly dropped into the cart._ _

__Bumblebee’s antennae perked up, and he couldn’t help but try to lean in closer. What was that stuff? It didn’t look like any mineral he'd seen before..._ _

__But it _did _look important. That femme seeker was clearly in charge, and she appeared to be guarding it, so clearly it was valuable. Bumblebee knew that he needed to get closer.___ _

____Carefully, walking with pedesteps soft and light, the scout inched his way through the tree cover. Working his way through the brush around the edge of the clearing._ _ _ _

____As he came closer to the tunnel’s entrance, he could start to make out the voices and what they were saying._ _ _ _

____"-ig faster! We need as much as possible." The purple femme was yelling at an unfortunate drone._ _ _ _

____The drone buzzed back at her, shrinking in on itself._ _ _ _

____"I don't care if your tools are having difficulty! I want you to break through the initial seam and harvest that energon no matter how many drill tips you break!”_ _ _ _

_____Energon?! _It felt like Bumblebee had taken a plasma bolt right to the spark. Shorting out his processors in one fell swoop. Actual, real-life energon?! _Here?!___ _ _ _ _

________So that’s what the Decepticon’s wanted. The scout took another look at the cart full of glowing purple crystal, and inched closer._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________From somewhere deep in the tunnel, a commotion broke out. The sound of shouts and the clanging of a scuffle. The purple femme startled and whipped away from the drone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Ramjet! Acidstorm! What the frag do you think you’re doing?!” she yelled, stomping deeper into the mine and leaving the cart unguarded._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Let it never be said Bumblebee didn’t take advantage of opportunity. The yellow scout quickly skirted the tree line, coming up flush with the rock face. He waited for a few painstaking kliks, exvents shallow and controlled. The drones carried on with their tasks, completely oblivious._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Slowly, carefully, he slipped from the trees to the side of the cart. Shadows rippling over his plating as he moved._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee ducked down behind it, feeling the dirt crunch beneath his pedes as he crouched between the cave wall and the metal cart. His back plating prickled uncomfortably, exposed and vulnerable, but necessary. Keeping his audio sensors trained on the drones a short distance ahead of him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He poked his helm over the edge of the cart, and felt his spark spin faster in his chassis. The cart was filled with that same purple crystal the drone was carrying, glittering and sparkling in the late afternoon sun. He reached an arm in and quickly snatched a chunk from the pile and ducked back down._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________His optics shone back at him from within the facets of the crystal as he held it up. Reflected copies of his own face tinged purple and trapped within the stone. Bumblebee’s digits tingled where he touched the rock, and he was mesmerized. The rock glowed softly and was warm. It felt like…. Right. Warm and comforting._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________It was familiar and unfamiliar all at once. Like something deep within his coding recognized it. Some primal instinct confirming what it was._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee marvelled at the stone in his hand, and almost couldn’t believe it. No wonder the Decepticons were amassing on Earth, this energon was incredibly valuable. The power that even one little crystal contained, he could almost feel it thrumming through his plating as he held it. Despite the warmth coming from the energon crystal, Bumblebee felt his plating grow colder at the thought of what could happen with this in the Decepticon’s hands._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He quickly subspaced the crystal and transformed his arm into a blaster. Brainstorm would appreciate the sample, but he had to get it back to him first._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie and Memo stood at the edge of the alleyway. Tucked away in the shadows. Conan sat at their feet, quiet and subdued, as if he could sense the tension in the human’s bodies._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________It felt like there were butterflies fighting in her stomach. Charlie's nerves were buzzing so much. She rubbed at her arms, trying to distract herself. “Memo, do you think-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Not usually.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie reached over and smacked her friend on the shoulder. Now was not the time for jokes, was he serious?! “Dude.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo cringed away from her, “Sorry, you know that’s how I deal.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The alley was small, barely big enough for Bumblebee to drive in and out of, and not nearly big enough for two teenagers to kick around in whilst their friend risked his life. It was quiet, and still, and deceptively normal. Not fitting the tension of the situation at all._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________And it annoyed Charlie to no end._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Y’know,” she said, leaning against the wall with a sigh. “He tried to do this last time too.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Yeah, when we were trying to stop that giant satellite thing. With Shatter and Dropkick.” Ugh. Just saying their names left a foul taste in her mouth. “He put me in a dumpster!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“...Why?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie sighed. “To keep me out of harm’s way. I don’t think I ever told you this part - it wasn’t very interesting. Not as interesting as the rest of the night. But, y’know, he wanted to keep me safe.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I mean...” Memo gestured up and down at Charlie, indicating her very-much-aliveness. “It worked.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The mechanic laughed, and shook her head. “Ha! Not quite. A stray missile blew that motherfucker up with me inside.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo gawked at her, “You’re kidding, right?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I wish! Pretty sure I've still got the bruises.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________They laughed a little at that. But it was strained. The kind of laughter one gives when you don’t know what else to do._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo’s chuckle turned into a sigh. “He’s just trying to protect us.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I know. But still. It makes me feel so damn helpless.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Something rumbled in the distance and both teens jerked their heads up. Charlie scanned the sky with dread pooling in her stomach, drawing the butterflies._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She’d heard that sound before. That was the sound of a high-powered jet engine gaining rapidly. And sure enough, on the horizon was a dark ominous speck flying straight towards them. As she watched in horror it was growing steadily bigger._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Is that another one?” Memo asked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The jet was making a beeline directly towards them, towards the mountain. “There’s no way in hell that's a human plane,” Charlie said with a frown._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________It was gonna go right overtop of them. Overtop of… “Bumblebee!” she gasped._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie spun towards Memo, grabbing his shoulders and pulling his face close to hers. “That thing’s gonna go right over top of him! It’ll see him!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Charlie, wait-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________But Memo’s words fell on deaf ears, as Charlie was frantically scanning the sky again. Watching the Decepticon come steadily closer. “Memo, he doesn’t know it's coming. He’s on the side of a mountain, the tree cover won’t be enough from an aerial view.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie pushed away from her friend, feeling the buzzing feeling in her body return full force. Her scowl turned into the cold, hard look of determination. “We have to warn him!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Charlie! We can’t! He said to stay here, and I can’t even walk! There’s no way you can make that climb in time!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Memo reached out to grab her shoulder but she slapped his hand away. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “I didn’t stay in that dumpster, Memo. And I’m not gonna stay here when he needs me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Pebbles skidded underneath her feet as Charlie slipped. She caught herself just before falling into what would’ve been a painful pile. Her muscles ached as she pushed her way up the hill, clawing at trees and dirt and whatever she could get her hands on to keep herself moving upwards._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Her breathing was ragged and her chest felt like it was on fire. With every step it felt like she was splitting her torso in tow, but she kept going. She raced up the side of the mountain, faster and faster, searching for a flash of yellow metal between the leaves._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Starscream enjoyed the feeling of wind over his plating as he neared the mine. That rush of air was like the rush of victory washing over him, inwardly he preened._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________His seekers, fools that they were, had done it! They’d found his energon! His one way ticket to power and everything he’d ever wanted._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________All locked up nice and safe in the shell of an unassuming little planet._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________As Starscream neared the mountain, he was far too busy plotting and marvelling to notice anything beneath him, focused only on his goal. The mine._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He slowed down before coming in right over top of the mine and transforming loudly. Heel thrusters activated with a roar of flame and he elegantly lowered himself to the ground in the middle of a clearing outside the mine’s entrance. In seemingly random spots around the clearing were piles of cast out dirt, as well as drones milling around being utterly useless. Technology, minecarts and tracks lay half-assembled and scattered around the outside. Starscream frowned as he surveyed the site. Utterly shameful._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________What idiots were running this place? Leaving it in such a chaotic state? Oh wait, that's right, he thought as the sound of squabbling echoed from deep within the tunnel, growing louder and louder by the klik._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Slipstream, Acidstorm and Ramjet emerged from the tunnel’s entrance. Acidstorm stalking out in front in a huff, his nasal ridge turned pointedly up in the air. Slipstream followed close behind, dragging Ramjet along behind her by the collar faring._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“-Ramjet! I’ve told you, stop trying to eat the energon! We need that!” Ramjet started to protest and Slipstream slapped him across the faceplate, giving him a glare that would melt weaker mech’s processors. “It’s not even refined yet!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Ramjet grunted something incoherent, curling his large fists over something at his chest. Slipstream scoffed and wrenched whatever it was from his grip. “Honestly, I-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Excuse me?” Starscream drawled, cocking one hip and letting his wings raise slightly behind him. His posture was relaxed, but with an underlying anger only he could really manage. “Am I missing something here?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Slipstream and the two mechs immediately jumped to attention. Arms firmly at their sides. “Sir!” They barked. Before they could fully stifle their fields, Starscream caught a glimpse of shock and fear._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Rightfully so, he thought with a grin._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Starscream! W-we weren’t expecting to see you here so soon!” Slipstream said. “We’re still getting ready for full scale operation, sir.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Starscream prowled towards them like a predator on the hunt. “Don’t be coy, my dear. You showed me the energon seam in the rock. Now show me the real stuff.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The femme stiffened, and bowed her helm in acknowledgement. She held out her fist towards the commander._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________As Starscream moved closer to look, she uncurled her fist. In her palm was the energon crystal she had just taken from Ramjet, as beautiful and glittery as ever._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Starscream snatched it from her hand and held it up to the light. He traced its surface with his claws. “Marvellous…” he said. “It’s just as I remember. Well, except for the colour. A little more purple than the pink crystals I remember from Vos, but I expect that’s just the minerals of this mudball rubbing off on it during its formation.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You’ve done well, my seekers. I will need to take this back to study on the Nemesis.” Shockwave would surely want a sample as well, but he’d rather not think about that.  
“Where is the rest?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Acidstorm gestured to a cart to the side of the main tunnel entrance, a fair distance away from where they stood. “In there, Starscream.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________A grin curled his derma. “ _Perfect _.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Starscream turned to the energon cart, his gaze locked onto it like a feline stalking his prey. As he looked over he just caught a glimpse of something yellow ducking down behind it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“What…?” He started, taking a step towards it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Behind him, something clattered and a drone let out a high pitched buzz. Starscream and the other seekers spun quickly, raising their weapons to face the sudden noise. They were greeted by the sight of a drone’s backplates, buzzing loudly as it advanced on the bushes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“What the scrap do you think you’re doing?” yelled Slipstream, lowering her arm missiles. “Get back to work!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The drone ignored her, and instead rushed into the bushes. The clearing was suddenly filled with the sounds of tree branches snapping and loud cursing. The drone emerged from the trees carrying a bundle of kicking and hissing organic female. The organic was struggling as much as it could against the drones grip, its voice loud and grating against Starscream’s audials._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The organic fell abruptly silent as it caught sight of the mecha in the clearing, its little eyes going wide and its voice dying in its throat._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Well, hello there,” Starscream lowered his arm, his grin getting bigger by the second. “You’re awfully lost, aren’t you?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie kicked and struggled in the drone’s grasp, its huge hands holding her in the air by the back of her shirt, pulling it painfully tight against her shoulders and making her chest burn._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________In front of her was a group of Decepticons. Giant and menacing they loomed over her, almost twice the height of Bumblebee. If her mind wasn’t currently on other things, she might have been confused about how they all looked so similar, but so different. Aside from colouring, it was only minor differences in their respective kibble and body size that made them stand out. There were two mechs, one mostly black and brutish looking with a cone head, the other a sickly acid green. Beside them stood a purple Decepticon, with a slightly more feminine face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________In front of them all however, leering down at her, was the red and blue mech who’d spoken. Judging by the way the others kept their distance, he was the leader. He smiled cruelly, showcasing sharp teeth._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie swung wildly in the drone’s grip and spat at the blue and the mech. “Let me go, you assholes!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The red and blue mech cackled. “Oh, the poor thing. It actually thinks it has a chance.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He turned to the side and glared at a purple jet beside him. “Although why it was allowed to get so _close _, I don’t know.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The purple femme seemed to flinch, but straightened. “It’s only an organic sir, hardly a threat.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The blue and red mech’s brow ridge furrowed, but he turned back to Charlie. Fear pooled in her gut as his gaze narrowed in on her again. She started struggling again, harder._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“She said, let her go!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The Decepticon’s whirled around and Charlie looked up to see Bumblebee on the other side of the clearing, one pede resting on the side of a mine cart. Both arms were transformed into guns and aimed at the blue and red mech’s head. Orange heat simmered within the barrels, and his optics glowed blue and menacing beneath his battle mask._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Instantly, the atmosphere changed. The Decepticon’s jumped backwards, transforming out their weapons and aiming back at the Autobot scout. Every drone in the area seemed to snap and follow suit, training their focus on Bumblebee._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“AN AUTOBOT?!” Starscream screeched, his arm mounted missiles deploying with a snap. His wings flared out behind him threateningly, blocking Charlie’s view. “HERE? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Slipstream looked between Bumblebee and Starscream quickly. “Sir! What are your orders?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Take him out you glitch!” Starscream screamed back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Acidstorm, Ramjet and Slipstream leapt forward, the humming of their weapons growing louder as they aimed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I wouldn’t do that.” Bumblebee tapped his pede against the minecart in front of him. “It’s been a while since i’ve brushed up on my history, but this stuff is supposed to be pretty explosive, isn’t it?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The seekers faltered, not lowering their weapons, but not firing either. Starscream glared._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee nodded. “That’s right, ‘cons. Now Starscream, tell your drone to let the human go and-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Oh no,” Starscream growled. “I don’t think I will. You made a very stupid descion by coming here, B127. And an even stupider one by revealing yourself.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“This _vermin _,” he spat, gesturing behind himself at Charlie, “Is somewhere it doesn’t belong, and has no use to me.” Starscream straightened, folding his wings back in just enough for Charlie to catch a glimpse of her friend. Bumblebee looked fearsome, his antennae and doorwings pinned back as far as they could go. His gaze was steady, aim still locked on Starscream’s helm and unwavering.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie’s shirt was really starting to cut through her torso now and her legs were starting to feel faint from being suspended for so long. She struggled more fiercely, trying to kick at any part of the mech she could reach._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Starscream snapped his fingers, and the drone holding her shifted. Its grip moved down and suddenly, relief in her aching shoulders as the drone let go of her shirt and instead gripped her torso. Its hand was massive compared to her, swallowing her entire torso within its grasp._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________The moment of relief was quickly chased away when the drone’s digits around her started to squeeze. Her ribs screamed in agony, along with the rest of her as the mech began to compress her body. She locked eyes with her friend and took a ragged breath of air._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Bumblebee…” she wheezed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“I SAID LET HER GO!” Bumblebee shouted, whipping one arm gun away from Starscream and training it on the drone holding Charlie instead. His optics flashed a dangerous red. “NOW!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Starscream cackled, and snapped his fingers again. The drone’s grip on Charlie eased and she sucked in a great lungful of air. Hacking and coughing. Starscream took a few steps backwards and snatched her out of the drone’s hands. Holding her by the back of her shirt once again and thrusting her out in Bumblebee’s direction._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie’s vision swum. The lack of air and the sudden movement making her nauseous and she had to force down the urge to hurl. The ground looked dazzlingly far beneath her, though it could only have been one or two stories._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Starscream shook her roughly. “How interesting. Tell me, Autobot, do you care about this _pest _?”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Bumblebee said nothing, but Charlie could see his frame stiffen slightly. The glow within his gun brightened. “Just put her down, Starscream.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________The jet rolled his eyes, “Primus, is your vocoder glitched? This is getting repetitive.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Regardless,” he grinned, the sneer audible to Charlie in his voice alone. "It appears we are at an impasse."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________He swung Charlie from side to side slowly, straining the fabric of her shirt even more. "I've got something you want, and you have something I want."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Behind his back, Starscream flexed his wings slightly, and sent out a ping. Silently, his ping was returned and the Decepticons around him tensed minutely._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________"How about we make a trade? The organic for the energon. As well as the location of your friends. You Autobot cowards tend to travel in packs, after all. "_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________The yellow scout hissed a series of beeps and buzzes that Charlie didn't understand, but from the deepening frown on Starscream's faceplate; was nothing savoury._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________"Like I'd ever tell you anything!” Bumblebee spat back. “You just want to get back into Megatron's good graces, is that it? Just because he got sick of your temper tantrums and sent you here on his errand list."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Starscream bristled, and the other Decepticon jets started to slowly move away from him. Some drones faded away into the trees on either side._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________"And what about you, B127? Tired of being Prime's little lapdog? Thought maybe you'd strike out on your own?" The commander’s optics sparked a crimson angry red and his voice was low and dangerous. A snarl barely hiding behind the words._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________"The fact of the matter is, you overestimate your position here. There's one of you,"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________He gestured around at the group of Decepticon's and drones moving steadily towards the scout. The drones reemerged from within the trees to the side of him, effectively surrounding him. "And so many more of us."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________"Back away from the energon," Slipstream ordered, her missiles trained on Bumblebee's spark as she wedged closer. "We'll make your offlining swift."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________The scout shifted, his optics flicked over the advancing mechs, and more of them emerging from the forest behind him. His gaze landed on Charlie in Starscream's grip. He lowered his gun a fraction._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________"-Nrgh, Bumblebee! Don't!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________" _Shut up! _" Starscream snapped, shaking Charlie again so hard her world went white for a few seconds.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________With one fist he raised her higher, closer to his faceplate. "Leverage. Doesn't. Talk!" he snarled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Charlie swung in his grip, throwing her body backwards. Reaching the peak of the swing, she rocketed forward and with a yell planted her boot firmly into Starscream's face plate._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________The jet stumbled back with an indignant squawk, and finally her shirt gave up. The fabric tore like tissue paper in his grip, his sharp claws clasping onto nothing as Charlie suddenly plummeted towards the ground._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________"CHARLIE!" Bumblebee yelled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Charlie curled into a ball as she fell and bounced painfully off of Starscream's plating. She hit the dirt with a thump and rolled along the ground. The shock of the impact shook through her body as she struggled to crawl to her knees. Everything fucking hurt._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________She looked up just in time to see Bumblebee smash his arm blaster through the chest of a drone, firing and exploding pieces of metal everywhere. He jumped on top of the energon cart and spun into a kick, landing one straight into the green jet's faceplate._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________The scout dodged plasma blasts and missiles as Slipstream and the other seeker fired on him from afar. Bumblebee grabbed onto the sides of the cart with his hands and jackknifed his legs backwards, kicking off the rockwall beside him and pushing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________The cart sprang forward with Bumblebee riding on top of it across the clearing, firing over his shoulder wildly. He swung left and neared Charlie and Starscream. The mechanic shook herself and struggled to her feet. She started to run towards him on unsteady legs._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________The scout drove off of the cart and transformed as he neared Charlie. The energon cart veered away and clattered down the side of the mountain._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Bumblebee's wheels hit the dirt with a squeal and he swung the door open as he turned. "Get in!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Charlie threw herself inside, and the door slammed shut behind her. Plasma blasts whizzed past overhead as Bumblebee took off. Burning rubber and dirt spewing up behind them as they took off down the mountain._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Starscream reset his optics harshly, one hand rubbing at his nasal ridge. Hand he threw his other claw out after the Autobot and human, "DESTROY THEM! AND GET BACK MY ENERGON!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no thoughts head empty


	9. Show Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhh i took a stab at writing action. *shudders*

Missiles and plasma blasts flew through the air around them, narrowly missing Bumblebee. Smashing through trees and into the dirt all around. The scout's wheels spun out over the unsteady ground as he skidded down the mountainside. Each bump jostled Charlie in the driver’s seat and she gripped the chair hard.

She felt a sudden pressure on her chest and the seat belt snapped over her, just in time for Bumblebee to turn a hard left and avoid a large boulder. 

“WHAT THE FRAG ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” He yelled over the whine of his engine. 

"I'M HERE TO HELP!" She shouted back, "I had to warn you that blue and red guy - Starscream - was coming!”

“And your plan was to get _captured _?” Bumblebee swerved harshly again, throwing Charlie against the door. She winced and gripped onto the seat tighter.__

__“No!” She shouted back, “Of course not! You think I wanted to get near those creeps!?”_ _

__The scout muttered a series of clicks and buzzes that Charlie couldn’t understand, but she got the sentiment._ _

__“I told you to stay! You shouldn’t have come!”_ _

__“Well it worked, didn’t it?” She said, glaring at Bumblebee’s dash. “They’d have found you if they hadn’t found me first!”_ _

__“That doesn’t matter! He growled. “You shouldn’t have put yourself in danger like that!”_ _

__As if to prove his point, a fresh wave of bullets bit through the ground around them. The loud thrum of jet engines echoed through the trees above and Charlie couldn’t help the sinking feeling in her gut. She craned her neck to look out the window but all she could see was the rushing colours of green and brown of the forest, interspersed with tiny snatches of sky._ _

__Ahead of them, bouncing through the trees and down the mountainside was that strange cart that Bumblebee had been protecting. Full to the brim with a strange purple crystals that were jumping around with every shudder._ _

__It looked weird. And if the Decepticon’s were after it..._ _

__Before Bumblebee could work up to telling again, Charlie interrupted. “Okay! you can yell at me later! But what is that stuff? Why are they mining it?” Charlie asked, pointing at the minecart ahead of them._ _

__Bumblebee hummed in frustration. "We're not done talking about this. But that cart contains something the Decepticon’s should never get their servos on.”_ _

__“Rocks?” Charlie asked, confused._ _

__“...Sure. I’ll explain later, but for now we need to stop them from getting it!”_ _

__

__“Okay!” Charlie sat forward, peering out the windscreen. “We need to catch it first!”_ _

__Bumblebee revved his engine in response, his tries squealing on the dirt and rock. Trees flashed past them on either side and the scout had to turn sharply to avoid them, losing speed as he did so. “I can’t catch up!”_ _

__“Just keep going! I see open sky ahead!” Charlie yelled back. Ahead of them through the trees, was a swath of light. The tell tale look of open hillside._ _

__The trees began to thin until suddenly they shot out of the tree cover, onto the bare rocky slopes of the mountain._ _

__The energon cart, no longer hindered by the forest, started to gain momentum._ _

___“Faster ‘Bee!”_ _ _

____The yellow beetle tore after the energon cart. They slowly, so slowly, started to gain. The cart grew bigger as they finally started coming up close behind it._ _ _ _

____Just as it looked like they were going to catch it, the ground in front of them exploded as a missile hit the earth._ _ _ _

____The impact sent Bumblebee flying, flipping up into the air. Charlie screamed as the world turned over and over on itself, watching in horror as the ground came rushing up to meet her. She almost didn’t hear Bumblebee’s transformation sequence, as half of the car transformed into half of a bot mode. Kicking out and pushing off the ground as they fell, the scout spun them back over and right way up._ _ _ _

____They hit the ground and Bumblebee immediately kicked his engine into gear again, not missing a beat. Charlie’s vision swam. Unable to process what had just happened. She glanced out the window, and saw the unmistakable shapes of Decepticon jets hovering over the energon cart._ _ _ _

____“Shit!” she said. “Bee, where's it going? Can we head them off?”_ _ _ _

____“With its current direction, the energon is headed…" He paused, processor calculating the route and speed of the cart. “Oh no,” he said._ _ _ _

____“Oh no?” Charlie repeated. “What does that mean?!”_ _ _ _

____“They’re headed right for the town. We’re out of time.”_ _ _ _

____“ _Oh no. _” Charlie repeated, the fear finally dawning on her. She gripped the seatbelt over her chest tighter.___ _ _ _

______x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _

______It was a mostly quiet day in Blandtown. Nothing particularly interesting was happening, as per usual. An unusual number of planes had flown by overhead but, apart from that, nothing out of the ordinary had happened._ _ _ _ _ _

______The kids went to school, the adults went to work. Old ladies fed pigeons in the town square and mothers took their babies out for walks. Workers on their lunch breaks were chatting idly, enjoying the sun and their sandwiches._ _ _ _ _ _

______It was normal. Mundane._ _ _ _ _ _

______Until suddenly a large minecart came sailing over the edge of the cliff behind the town, chased by a couple of jets. Even more weirdly, following close behind them came a yellow VW beetle, launching itself off the edge and into the air._ _ _ _ _ _

______x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie screamed as Bumblebee’s wheels came off of the ground, watching the rock fall away beneath them. A sick feeling of weightlessness hit her stomach, and she felt her hair float upwards around her face._ _ _ _ _ _

______Then, just as suddenly, they were plummeting downwards. A new scream tore its way from Charlie’s throat.  
She gripped the steering wheel harder, her knuckles white. “BUMBLEBEE!” _ _ _ _ _ _

______The door beside her opened and folded in half. The seat on the other side split down the middle and spun away in a flurry of moving parts. Charlie’s eyes widened as the seatbelt unclipped from around her with a click, snaking back into the holder._ _ _ _ _ _

______Yellow plating spun around her, gears and parts she couldn’t recognise coming apart and refitting themselves into new patterns. The sound of metal scraping against metal was almost completely stolen by the wind. Charlie gulped as the steering wheel was snatched away from her, leaving her suspended in mid air. Far beneath her the roofs of the town below were rushing up fast._ _ _ _ _ _

______Way, way too fast. Charlie screamed again, screwing her eyes closed. Oh god._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Then the press of metal hands cupped around her shoulders, pulling her flush against a warm chassis. Her stomach flipped painfully again, and she blindly reached out. Grabbing onto Bumblebee’s grill._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______It was a good thing she had too, because the jolt through Bumblebee’s frame on landing almost shook her loose. The scout’s grip tightened on her as his pedes smashed into the concrete of a rooftop. The world spun again as he tucked into a roll to absorb the impact, holding her tightly as he leapt up into a run._ _ _ _ _ _

______Bumblebee’s pedesteps echoed as he launched himself forward, running across the rooftop. Charlie bounced along in his arms, gripping tight to his chassis._ _ _ _ _ _

______Ahead of them, two of the seekers had flown low enough to grab at the cart. Slipstream and Acidstorm but transformed into bot mode and using their heel thrusters to stay up in the air. Both of them had a hold on one edge of the energon cart and were trying to fly with it, but it was weighing them down. The bottom of the cart was barely scraping the roof tops._ _ _ _ _ _

______Bumblebee transformed his other arm in a blaster, and launched himself over the building’s edge. Charlie felt another moment of weightlessness before they slammed down on the next building over, the roof creaking ominously beneath their weight._ _ _ _ _ _

______Bumblebee raised his blaster arm and fired at the seekers, just missing their wingtips._ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie slapped her hands over her ears at the loud boom. She must’ve cried out, because Bumblebee lowered his arm, glancing down at her with concern for a moment as he kept on running. He reached the apex of the rooftop and slid down the slope on the other side._ _ _ _ _ _

______But this time, instead of jumping across, the scout fell straight down. HItting the street below with a crash, the ground beneath him cracked from the impact._ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie suddenly found herself on her own feet again, being deposited on the ground by large metal hands. Her legs shook, and her body still felt like it was bumping around, but she managed to stay upright. She turned back to face her friend. “Bee?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Bumblebee’s frame was stiff where he crouched, his plating trembling slightly. His faceplate was hidden beneath his battle mask but Charlie could practically see the tension radiation off of him._ _ _ _ _ _

______“We’re not done talking about this,” he warned, before he turned and transformed. As soon as his wheels hit the pavement, he sped off after the Decepticons._ _ _ _ _ _

______Charlie watched him disappear down the street. Her body ached terribly and she was no doctor, but she’d probably turned a cracked rib into a broken one, judging by the way her chest was hurting. Starscream dropping her certainly hadn’t helped._ _ _ _ _ _

______She took one step forward. Then another. And then another. Gaining speed with each step. She pushed past a man on the street, standing still in shock. Her feet slapped the pavement and her windswept hair whipped around her face. She grit her teeth and kept going._ _ _ _ _ _

______Abandoning the sidewalk, she ran out onto the road. Sprinting down the street towards the main square._ _ _ _ _ _

______x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Bumblebee raced through the human town, dodging past other cars. Horns honked angrily behind him but he ignored them. In the sky, Slipstream and Acidstorm were still struggling to hold the cart, dipping lower and lower towards the houses. Their thrusters roared with frames but still not quite enough to fly._ _ _ _ _ _

_______Perfect. ____ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee pushed his engine faster, ignoring its whine and the sting in his chassis. The small dial on his dash flickered, the little needle moving into the red._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The scout was gaining, every yard closer on the struggling Decepticons. He saw Slipstream’s helm flip up, her gaze locking onto him with a scowl. He saw her derma move and she gestured angrily towards him, although the wind snatched away the words._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Blaster fire suddenly filled the air around him. Bumblebee swerved on the street, the blasts missing and leaving burned patches on the asphalt behind him. Distantly, his processor registered the sounds of human screams and people ducking for cover._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee kept going. Gunning his engine as hard as it could go and weaving through the streets. Up ahead, rapidly approaching, a large truck slowly turning the corner. The gap between its trailer and the street narrowing second by second._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________There was no way he’d make that. Unless… Bumblebee activated his horn, the loud blaring sound filling the air. Human vehicles swerved off the street, trying to get away. The onslaught of blaster fire from above was extra encouragement._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________A flash of pain exploded on the top of his cab, and Bumblebee couldn’t help a startled yelp of pain. He wobbled, and lost just a little bit of speed. Smoke trailed off of the top of his cab as he leaned back onto the pedal, trying desperately to regain ground._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The seekers were close. The energon so, _so, _close. Just out of reach.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The truck ahead kept going, obliviously completing its turn._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee’s gears shrieked as he braked suddenly, flipping himself up into the air and transforming mid jump. He landed hard on top of the truck, and the roof dented beneath him. The scout leapt from the top of the truck to the buildings, catching the edge of one and swinging himself back up onto the rooftop._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee sprung forward, one step, two, and launched himself at the seekers. His fist connected with Acidstorm’s helm, sparks flying away from the grate of metal on metal. Acidstorm whirled around, his wings flaring out. He growled and kicked out at Bumblebee._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The scout ducked away from the jet of flame from the seeker’s heel, quickly jumping forward to give a kick of his own. His pede landed squarely in the seeker’s abdomen and knocked Acidstorm back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Slipstream shrieked as her comrade lost his grip on the energon cart, straining to pull it up on her own. The air rankled with the smell of burning metal and fuel from her thrusters working over time. But it wasn’t enough, and both her and the cart were losing height rapidly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee risked a glance upwards as he ran. Above them, the swarm of drones were racing behind them. None daring to fire on him so close to the energon._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Behind him came the sound of a missile arming with an unmistakable click. Bumblebee had no time to move out of the way before it fired and his backplates were engulfed in pain._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________His optics blacked out and he stumbled. Static chased at the edges of his vision, and his HUD was flooded with warnings and alerts. He shook his helm and reset his optics harshly. Looking up just in time to see Acidstorm jet past him towards the cart._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The green seeker reached out to grab the other edge of the cart. Digits so close to the edge, just grazing the tarnished metal. Bumblebee could see the purple glow of the crystals reflected in his face plates._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“GRAB IT!” Slipstream screamed, her frame shaking with the effort of holding the cart in the air._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Acidstorm’s digits closed around air. The cart falling away from underneath him. Slipstream’s optics widened in shock as her thrusters finally gave up and she plummeted down, cart and all. Disappearing over the edge of the rooftop._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________A crash shook the windows in the nearby buildings as she hit the ground, the cart smashing into the concrete and tipping over, spilling energon crystals everywhere. Slipstream growled as she pulled herself back to her pedes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Acidstorm touched down beside her, flexing his claws. “Great going _boss _.”  
“Shut up.” She snarled. ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee raced towards the edge of the rooftop, kicking off of it and jumping into the air. The two Decepticon’s below him raised their weapons and filled the air with blaster bolts behind him as he fell._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The scout landed on the ground with a crash, tucking his frame into a crouch with both blasters of his own extended. “Give it up Decepti-creeps!” He yelled, voice slightly muffled through his battle mask._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The two seekers practically hissed. Slipstream’s wings flared out behind her, making her look much bigger and more intimidating. Not that hard, considering she was already twice Bumblebee’s height._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“You just don’t know when to quit, do you Autobot?” she sneered. “Drones! Attack!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________At once, the swarm of drones above them dove down, transforming in midair and slamming down onto the ground. Churning up the perfectly maintained grass of the park under their pedes. They stood up and as one turned to face Bumblebee, between him and the energon._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Between him and the seekers, who were hurriedly trying to pick up as many crystals as they could._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Their empty red visors bored into his plating and Bumblebee’s optics narrowed behind his mask. He swung his blasters to the right and took out the nearest one in an explosion of sparks and fuel, its frame dropping to the ground like a rock._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The others jumped forward, swarming towards him. Bumblebee raced forward. A drone jumped at him from the left, one servo transformed into a drill that swung wildly at Bumblebee’s helm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The scout ducked and slammed his own arm up into the drone’s abdomen, then spun quickly and kicked it hard. The drone flew through the air and hit the fountain in the middle of the square with a sickening crack. It’s limp frame sagged like a doll,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee spun to face another drone just as it swung a fist at his head. It’s servo caught him across the antenna and sent a wave of pain feedback coursing through his frame. The scout shuddered. He whipped his arm back and transformed away his blaster, unsheathing his blade instead. The blade sliced through the air and cut through the drone’s neck cabling just as easily._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Another jumped at him from the left, and he fired. Then another from the right. Filling his view with drones advancing on him. Marching forwards with the same unwavering steps, same cold optics. Bumblebee fought for purchase against the tide of drones, but with every new attack he was pushed back a little more._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Every drone he cut down seemed to be replaced by another. Easy enough to kill one of them, but when faced with so many… And with so little time...._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Acidstorm and Slipstream had finally managed to right the cart, and were just scooping up the remainder of the crystals that had fallen. They were going to get away!!_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee felt something inside him shift, and his vision went red. Within his chest, his spark spun faster. The scout yelled, and surged forward through the crowd of drones, cutting them down as soon as they rose before him. Blasting his way through one frame and then the next._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie was gasping for breath by the time she made it back to the alley. Ducking into the shadows from one end, she finally let herself slow down._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________She walked down the length of it, trying to keep her footsteps light. From somewhere ahead she could hear loud crashes and booms of a fight. As she walked, something hit the ground hard and the walls around her shook. Charlie stumbled, but managed to keep her balance._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Memo?” she called out quietly. “Are you still here?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________A pile of trash bags ahead of her shuddered, and she heard a whimper come from behind them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie approached the bags slowly. Peeking around the edge of the pile to see a pair of skinny legs in ripped up jeans poking out._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Memo!” She walked around the pile and took in the sight of her friend._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Memo was sitting with his back up against the wall and Conan shivering in his lap. He raised a hand to pet at the little dog’s fur absentmindedly, who let out a small whine in return. He looked up and grinned in relief when he saw Charlie, sitting forward and reaching out his free hand towards her. “Charlie! Oh thank god, you’re ok!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie smiled weakly back, and grabbed his hand with her own. He squeezed her fingers, as if reassuring himself that she was really there. “Just about,” she replied._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Conan’s head flipped around at the sound of her voice and he jumped out of Memo’s lap. Barking and throwing himself towards his owner._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Memo grabbed at the dog, catching him in mid air and cupping a hand over his muzzle. “Ssh boy!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Something in the town square exploded, and the buildings around them shuddered. “Is that Bumblebee?” Charlie asked, her heart leaping into her throat all over again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“It’s not the fourth of July.” The boy grunted as he tried to shift forward into a crouch, then pulled himself upwards using the wall. He let Conan drop to the ground and the little dog shook himself._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Memo limped towards the mouth of the alleyway, holding on to one wall for support. He ducked down behind another stack of trash and motioned at Charlie._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie followed without question, ducking down beside him. Her eyes widened as she took her first real look into the town square._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee was in the middle, fighting off a mob of drones. She watched as he sliced clean through the waist of one, his optics glowing red behind his battle mask._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________On the other side of the plaza, the two seekers she’d seen before were righting the energon cart and chucking the glowing crystals inside. The purple one straightened slightly, watching Bumblebee’s advancement with a wary optic. She lifted one servo to the side of her helm and pressed on her audial, as if trying to hear something else over the noise of the fight._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie felt her heart leap into her throat as Bumblebee swung at another drone. He carved a hole through the mob in front of him and dove forward. Racing towards the two seekers and the energon cart with a yell. One arm a blaster and the other a blade behind him. “I WON'T LET YOU ESCAPE!” he shouted._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________A shadow appeared over the ground and Charlie looked up just in time to see a huge white and black seeker hurtling towards them. The seeker smashed into Bumblebee, knocking him to the side in a blur of black and yellow._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Memo stiffened beside her, and Charlie gasped. She leaned forward more over the pile of trash, straining to hear._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The black seeker rolled over Bumblebee, pinning the scout beneath his weight and holding down his arms. “Surprise,” he growled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee strained underneath him, attempting to raise his blaster but failing. He buzzed angrily at the seeker._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“About _time _Ramjet!” Slipstream yelled at the seeker.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Sorry boss,” The black seeker atop Bumblebee replied with an ugly grin. “You know I like to make an entrance.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________"You're not gonna..." Bumblebee coughed, choking on his events. Ramjet's arm crushing his throat. "You're not gonna get away with this."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________"Poor little Autobot. You just don't know when to give up, do you?" Slipstream grinned cruelly. As she walked slowly towards the two of them, Charlie realized she was really starting to dislike this lady. "But I'll admit, you gave us a little runabout there for a second. Perhaps you're not just a lapdog after all, B127."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________"It’s- _Bumblebee, _" he spat back.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________"What kind of name is that?" Ramjet sneered, pressing down on the scout's throat harder. "Did your little pet give it to you? I knew Autobots were sappy - but I didn't think it was _that _bad."___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Ah well, it was a good try _’Bumblebee’ _.” Acidstorm stalked closer. “But you were always going to fail.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Charlie's shoulders tensed, and she could hear the blood pounding in her temples. Memo shot her a worried glance, “Be cool, dude.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Slipstream flicked one wing and said something in a series of beeps and buzzes. The drones snapped to attention and moved towards the cart, the group of them lifting it up together._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________"Shit, Memo!" Charlie looked back at her friend. "We can’t let them take that cart!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Memo looked back at her, eyes wide. “Well, what are _we _-” he gestured between the two of them, “-supposed to do about it?”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Charlie groaned in frustration, dragging her fingers down the side of her face. “I don’t know! We can’t fight them, but we can’t do nothing either!” _Think brain, think! _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The two teens glanced back out into the square. Their friend pinned and the bad guys getting away. Two seekers advancing on Bumblebee, and one holding him down. A squadron of drones lifting the energon cart._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Throughout the plaza were the greying frames of the drones that Bumblebee had offlined. Scattered across the ground where he had thrown them. Some were still mostly intact, others only in bits. The head and torso of one lay fairly close to the two humans, it’s dark visor sending a shiver down Charlie’s spine._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Memo followed her gaze, then seemed to jump with an idea. He tugged on Charlie’s sleeve and pointed at the dead drone. At it’s blaster, still primed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Do you think…?” he trailed off, looking back at Charlie._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“It’s as good an idea as any,” she replied. She gave a weak grin. “And we don’t have that many options.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Ramjet pressed down on Bumblebee’s chassis, causing something inside the scout to crunch. Bumblebee grimaced behind his faceplate._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Talk.” Ramjet demanded._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Where are the others, Autobot? Or did your leader really send you away to be offlined like this?” Slipstream kicked his side, denting the metal with a screech. “Are you that _expendable _to them?”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“No, he’s not!” The cybertronian’s helms whipped around, locking onto the human voice. Slipstream growled with annoyance._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Charlie and Memo stood beside the drone. Charlie strained to hold it’s arm above her head, resting the blaster across her shoulders as she glared at the Decepticons. Behind her, Memo was leaning heavily against the drone’s side, frantically pulling at the plating on the back of the blaster._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Bumblebee managed to toss his helm to face them, his optics wide. “No- Charlie! Memo! Get out of he-” Ramjet punched him across the faceplate, shattering one eye of his battle mask._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________The scout’s optics were blue again, and pleading as he looked at Charlie and Memo through the broken shards of glass._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“Gah! I’d hoped that thing had died already!” Acidstorm drew back in disgust. “But no matter, I’ll take care of it myself.” He raised his arm, his missile arming with a menacing click._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________‘Charlie!” Memo hissed at her, desperately messing with the wiring of the drone’s arm, “I have no idea how this works!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“Just-” Charlie braced herself as Acidstorm stepped forwards, “-HIT IT!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Memo reared back and slammed his fists down on the back of the blaster, and Charlie had to close her eyes at the flash of bright light shooting past her head. The barrel of the blaster burned her skin through the remains of her t-shirt and she cried out._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Acidstorm’s optics widened as the blaster bolt fired, streaking past him. Shooting through the air and across the square, it hit the energon cart with a deafening crack._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Slipstream barely managed a scream of horror before the cart exploded. The shockwave hit them like a tsunami, throwing them all backwards. Ramjet toppled off of Bumblebee and onto the ground._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Charlie fell backwards onto Memo, the blaster arm falling down beside her, narrowly missing her legs. She curled into a ball as soon as she hit the ground, her senses overwhelmed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________The sound of the explosion was deafening, and a fireball shot up into the sky. Bits of burning drones flew through the air, smashing into the surrounding buildings and the ground like fiery molten slag. Everything was consumed in fire and smoke._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Charlie couldn’t hear anything but ringing. A high pitched noise that filled her mind with numbness. She coughed. The air felt unbearably hot and thick, and breathing hurt her lungs._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Something beside her shifted, and she heard a groan._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“Memo?” She coughed again. “That you?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“Ugh, yep.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“Still alive?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“Ughnhnnnhgn.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________________Good enough, _she thought. Charlie opened her eyes, and winced at the brightness. The town square was full of smoke, making it almost impossible to see.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________She shuffled into a sitting position, every single muscle in her body protesting. Charlie rubbed at her legs, trying to get them to start working again and to distract her from a rapidly forming headache._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________A small whimper echoed from the alley behind them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Here boy,” she called out quietly. “C’mon.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________The sound of claws on pavement grew closer, and a small shape appeared through the smoke. The furry head of Conan emerged as he slowly approached. His eyes lit up as he saw Charlie and he bounded towards her, jumping up to lick at her face. She pushed him back down with a trembling smile and tucked the little dog into her lap._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Suddenly, her skin prickled. The hair on her arms stood up, as the space around her plunged into shadow. Charlie looked up quickly, to see a huge figure looming through the smog._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________The figure reached down, one massive arm coming towards them and-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________-waved the smoke away. Bumblebee’s yellow plating emerged from the gloom as he carefully knelt in front of the humans. “You guys okay?” he asked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Charlie smiled weakly. “Y-yeah.” She took in the sight of her friend. His plating was cracked and dented, with scuffs littering almost every part of him. She could see the scorch marks of missile fire and a myriad of cuts leaking liquid down his chassis and arms. Some of the plating on his pedes had been warped out of shape, and one eye of his battle mask had shattered where Ramjet had punched him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________His gaze travelled over her and Memo, but they lacked their usual warmth. Instead they were cold. Closed off._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Thank Primus,” he said, and he turned away. He transformed much slower than usual, probably to be careful around the damage to his frame. “Get in, we don’t have much time before they regroup.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Charlie helped lift Memo to his feet and bundle him into the passenger seat, where he sagged into the leather with a sigh. She rounded the hood to slide into the driver's seat herself. Once seated, she patted her knee tiredly and Conan jumped up into her lap._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Bumblebee closed his doors behind them and started his engine, rolling through the destroyed plaza._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________As they started to pull away, Charlie fidgeted in her seat. She rubbed at Conan’s fur in repeated little circle motions. “Bumblebee, I-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Look,” he cut her off. Charlie glanced up at his dash in confusion. Then she looked out the window and her stomach sunk like a brick._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________All around the edges of the square, were people. Slowly walking out onto the road as they rolled through them, barely moving out of the way for the VW beetle. They whispered amongst themselves, pointing at the smoke and the explosion._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________One man crept forwards and picked up the severed head of a drone, holding it up to the others with horror plain on his face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Charlie knew that the same expression was echoed on her own face, and her gut twisted even further. “Oh my god,” she said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________That was it. By tonight, this story would be all over the news. And now with irrefutable evidence of Cybertronian life. The Decepticon warship was already bad, but this? All these witnesses?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Charlie slumped down deeper into her seat as Bumblebee pulled away, driving out of the town and onto the highway as soon as the roads would let him. So caught up in her thoughts, she didn’t register the seatbelt snaking its way over her chest and clipping into the bracket._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________They’d been driving for a long while, without anyone saying a word. The sun had long since set and the stars were out in the sky, high above the desert plains. Memo was reclined in his chair, staring up at the roof of the cab. Looking at nothing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Charlie watched the stars through Bumblebee’s window, but her eyes couldn’t seem to focus. She stroked Conan’s fur absentmindedly as the little dog snored in her lap._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________She had fucked up royally. That in of itself wasn’t unusual, but this time… she’d really messed up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________And Bumblebee was completely silent. Not like he was before either, when he couldn’t speak, but much much worse. Silent because he was incredibly, undeniably, _pissed _.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________Charlie sighed. She didn’t blame him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________Most of her wanted to say something to him. To break the silence. But the few times she’d tried, she’d opened her mouth and something had inexplicably stopped her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________No harm in trying again though, that self-sabotaging part of her thought again. Nothing else to lose, right?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________“Bee, I-” she started, looking up at the dash. “I… I’m really sorry.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________Bumblebee didn’t say anything in return. Not even a hum of acknowledgment. The only sign that he wasn’t just a normal car was the steering wheel moving on its own in front of her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________Charlie frowned. “You have every right to be mad at me. I’m mad at me too. I didn’t mean to… That is I, um,” she cursed under her breath._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________“I’m so sorry I got you all exposed!” She shouted, then clapped a hand over her mouth. That was way louder than needed. She gripped Conan's fur too tightly, and the little dog yelped. Struggling to his feet in her lap. “Sorry I-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________“Wait, what?” Bumblebee asked, his voice incredulous._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________“....It’s my fault the humans saw you. If I hadn’t blown up the energon a-and stuff but I just thought-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________“Charlie, that’s not why I’m mad." The scout said back, his voice raised just a little. Enough to get Memo to snap his gaze away from the roof._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________“It’s not?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________“No! I’m upset because you deliberately put yourself in harm’s way! You knew it was dangerous, I told you it was going to be - but you followed me anyway!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________“I had to help you!” Charlie retorted, shifting forward in her seat and pointing a finger at the dash. “If I didn’t come warn you, Starscream would’ve seen you! You could’ve been hurt!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________“ _You _could’ve been hurt!”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________“But I _wasn’t! _” Charlie waved her arms around for emphasis. Which, given how beaten up she was, wasn’t really a reassurance. “I’m fine, Bumblebee!”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________“What if you weren’t!?” The scout’s voice cracked. “You don’t seem to realise the danger that you put yourself in! We’re not actors, Charlie, this is a war. And you don't stand a chance against a Decepticon in a fight! Neither of you do. Which is why I told you to stay put!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________Memo stiffened at his inclusion, no longer an outsider but now included in the fight. “Hey man, I don’t think-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________“I didn’t say that Bumblebee! I’m not insane!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________“How am I supposed to protect you if you won’t let me-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________“GUYS!” Memo shouted, stunning the others both into silence.  
“Guys! Calm down! Yelling at each other doesn’t do anything. You both have good points, okay?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________“Tch! Since when were you a mediator?” Charlie asked, glaring at him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________“Since I apparently became friends with a couple of babies!” he retorted. “Bee, you’re right. Charlie shouldn’t have gone after you-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________“Hey!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________“-but you understand why we felt like she had to, right?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________Bumblebee grumbled something unintelligible._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________“And Charlie, you know he’s only mad at you ‘cos he’s worried.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________Charlie froze, her comeback dying on her tongue. She turned her head to look out the window with a huff.  
“Bumblebee, I don’t want you to get hurt either. But...” she gestured around her at all of his dented plating and cracked windshield. “I guess it didn’t end up making a difference after all.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________The scout hummed. “No, it’s... I’m okay. Nothing Ratchet can’t fix up. And... you did help. If you and Memo hadn’t blasted the energon, the Decepticon’s would’ve gotten away with it for sure, then we’d be in even more trouble.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________“But what about all the humans? The explosion..”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________“Most of ‘em would’ve left long before that though, right?” Memo chimed in. “I mean, hanging around a place with giant fighting robots isn’t a great idea.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________The irony of that statement was lost on the boy, and Charlie refused to acknowledge it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________Bumblebee sighed. “It’s for just that reason that they would’ve seen us regardless. A cross-town chase with Cybertronians out of alt-mode isn’t exactly ‘subtle’ on your planet after all.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________Charlie laughed weakly, the chuckle escaping her before she could stifle it. The laugh turned into a cough and she shook in the seat._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________Memo put a hand on her shoulder, his face openly concerned. Charlie coughed into her elbow and waved him off. Conan twisted her head to try and lick at her face and she pushed his muzzle away too._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________The boy's gaze lingered on her for a second, frowning slightly. Before he glanced back at the dashboard. "So, Bee, what was that stuff they were after? Energy-one or something?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________"Energon," he corrected. "It's a type of fuel that Cybertronians run on, or at least I think so? Apart from rumours of the occasional shard, no one's seen the real thing for eons. I onlined fairly recently, so I only know of it from stories. ."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________"...You said it was dangerous in the Decepticon's hands." Charlie said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________"It is. Energon was long since depleted on our homeworld, so we adapted to other types of fuel. Synthetic, organic, whatever we could find. But those types of fuels are weaker, so I can only guess what a concentrated fuel like real energon could do to a bot. How powerful it might make them in comparison. "_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________Charlie and Memo exchanged a worried look. "None of that sounds good," Memo said quietly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________"It's not," Bumblebee agreed. "Which is why we need to get back to base as soon as possible. Even more so than before."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________The scout pulled up the holographic map display again, projecting it into the air in front of the dashboard. "At this rate, we should get there sometime in the early morning. You should try and get some rest, and I'll wake you when we arrive."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________The two humans nodded in agreement. Charlie yawned, "It won't be long until the Decepticons come looking for us, huh?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________"Just another reason to meet up with 'Bee's friends," Memo agreed. He shuffled in his seat, then rapped lightly on the headrest with his knuckles._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________Bumblebee obliged, and the seat reclined almost all the way down. Letting the boy readjust himself into as comfortable a position as possible._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________Charlie sighed and did the same, her eyelids already struggling to stay open. As the seat reclined she let her tired body sink into the leather, all of her muscles heavy. Conan settled back down into her lap, resting his head on top of her chest with a little sigh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________Just before she slipped into unconsciousness, she caught one last glimpse of the bright colours of Bumblebee's dashboard, silhouetted against the sparkling night sky._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________"G'night 'Bee," she whispered._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking that the Seeker command structure kinda goes a little like this:  
> Starscream (the commander, the one in charge)  
> Skywarp and Thundercracker (Starscream's trinemates and both sharing the rank of second underneath him)  
> Seekers who function as 'captains' of various smaller squads within the army. (For example, Slipstream is in charge of Acidstorm and Ramjet at the moment, but these squads are flexible.)  
> The rest of 'em, (the lowest-ranked but the majority of the army.)
> 
> Seeker command structure functions separate to Decepticon command structure, but overlaps and works within it.) how? i dont know man im not a brain guy
> 
> NEXT CHAPTER WE FINALLY GET TO MEET THE OTHER AUTOBOTS IM VERY EXCITED I haven't written it yet BUT IM VERY EXCITED  
> also yes charlie and bumblebee are gonna have A Talk about the day's events in the next chapter don't even worry about it. bee is still a little upset, although placated for now.


	10. Interesting First Impressions

Weak morning sunlight tinged the desert sand, painting the landscape in pinks and yellows.The light warmed Bumblebee’s plating with the promise of a hot day ahead. The Autobot scout drove through the pink sand, the asphalt of the highway leaving long ago giving way to dusty roads. Moving slowly past on either side were rusty red rock formations, giant mesas that stretched across the valley and embraced the little world within. Because that’s what it was really. A world within a world. Somewhere totally different from the rest of the planet Earth, as if they’d just… stepped out for a bit. 

It was peaceful, he thought. Optimus made a good choice to settle them out here. 

Within his cab, curled up on top of his reclined seats were the only two humans for miles. Their soft breaths fogged up his windows against the morning chill. Memo lay contorted in an awkward position, and Charlie had her arms curled protectively over the little dog on her chest. Her chest rising and falling in tandem with Conan’s.

Bumblebee surreptitiously ran another scan over them, letting the readouts fill up a corner of his HUD. Checking the surface damage on their bodies for the third time in the last hour. Yep, same amount of superficial wounds and scrapes. Not for the first time, he regretted that he wasn’t forged a medic with more detailed inbuilt scanners. 

Still. Just the presence of the heat of their bodies on his seats was as relief every time he thought of it. The previous days' events had been incredibly unexpected. He wasn’t proud of his reaction, but the selfish part of him still argued that it was justified. Charlie… he honestly didn’t know what she was thinking. 

Charlie’s breath caught in her sleep, and she tossed her head to the side. Bumblebee slowed his speed instinctively, and his inner gaze flicked back to the girl. She looked so peaceful, the sun coming through his window just starting to fall across her face. In the two years since he’d left Brighton Falls, she’d changed. Her features were slightly more defined, and she’d cut her hair to fall just above her shoulders. Pieces of metal glinted in her audials, which he could’ve sworn weren’t there before. Memo had also changed, he’d grown taller. Hitting some impossibly late ‘growth spurt’ or whatever it was that humans had. Honestly, they both looked different to how he remembered. 

Memo shuffled, then snored loudly. A small trail of drool escaped from the side of his mouth. Bumblebee chuckled quietly, the sight warming his spark. Nah. They were still the same. 

Ahead of them, just over the gentle rise of the desert plain, appeared the roof of a small building. 

‘Psst.” Bumblebee spoke aloud. “Memo. Charlie. We’re here.”

Charlie groaned and threw an arm over her eyes, trying in vain to block out the light and the inevitable eventuality of consciousness. “Noooo, five more minutes Mom, please.”

“Honestly, I’m impressed you two slept at all. The research on humans I’ve looked into suggested a traumatic event would keep you awake.”

Memo also groaned and half heartedly swatted at Bumblebee’s dashboard. “Mmf, yeah. Exhaustion will do that for ya,” he said, then blearily opened his eyes. “Wait, did you say we were there?”

Bumblebee buzzed an acknowledgement, and the two teens immediately, if groggily, sat up. Charlie looked out the windows and squinted her eyes against the morning sun. 

The roof of the small building was steadily growing bigger, revealing more and more of a run down dilapidated shack. The weather boards looked to be peeling and the roof looked like it had been put together by a child’s kitset. Dusty windows glinted back at them as they approached. 

Stretching out behind the shack, running over the sand in both directions and disappearing into the desert in the distance was a large chain length fence. The top of the fence was decked with coils of barbed wire. In front of them was a small gap in the fence that crossed the road. This gap was blocked by a rusty toll arm right in their path. 

Behind the fence, was absolutely nothing. Just more desert that eventually ran up into a large mesa rock formation.

“Uh… ‘Bee?” Charlie glanced between the gate and the scout’s dashboard with clear confusion. “I hate to break it to you, but there’s nothing here.”

The scout just laughed. “You’ll see.”

Bumblebee pulled up next to the shack, giving the humans a better closeup view. Charlie and Memo scrutinised the outsides, looking for some kind of clue. Nope. Still just garbage stapled together into building form.

As they sat there, bewildered, the door to the shack was kicked open roughly, and a man came marching out. The man was young, spiky hair cut short and dressed in desert camo fatigues. In his hands he carried a semiautomatic rifle. “This is a restricted area!” he barked. 

Charlie paled, and shrunk back in her seat. The soldier stomped up to them and rapped on the driver’s window smartly. “Did you hear? This is a restricted area. I need to see proof of registration to be here, missy!”

“I-I,” Charlie stammered. “Uh…” In her lap, Conan bared his teeth at the man.

“We have all the registration we need,” Bumblebee said cooly, as Charlie and Memo froze in shock. 

“‘Bee, what are you-” Charlie whispered.

“-Bumblebee, aka B127. Autobot scout from for Prime. And these are my friends.”

It was the soldier’s turn to go pale, and stammer. And he quickly dropped his gun to his side, “Apologies! I didn’t recognise you, sir!” The man spun on his heel and practically ran back to the shack. Inside, he hit some button and the robotic arm in front of them began to raise. “I'll let you through immediately!”

Bumblebee flashed his lights at the man in thanks and rolled through the gate. 

“What?! Wha-, why, huh?!” Memo spluttered. Charlie had to agree. 

“I thought those guys hated you!” she said, “They tried to kill you, and now they… what, let you through? He didn’t even look scared!” Of the talking car thing. He looked scared for some other reason, and it completely blindsided Charlie. 

“It’s been two years, and the U.S. military is now _mostly _on our side. We’ve managed to strike an… alliance of sorts. We co-inhabit the base with some of Sector 7.”__

__“An alliance? A base? What does that _mean _?”___ _

____Bumblebee flicked his windshield wipers playfully. “How about I just show you?” And he revved his engine._ _ _ _

____Charlie and Memo were thrust back into their seats as Bumblebee took off, tires screaming across the desert and kicking up a cloud of smoke behind them. The road in front was straight and stretching out into the horizon. They ate up the strip of road underneath them and it was only when they slipped into a shadow that something twigged in Charlie’s mind._ _ _ _

____Directly in front of them rose a massive stone mesa. It’s sides’ stoney and unyielding. Bumblebee kept going, only gaining speed. Charlie waited for him to turn. And she waited. And waited._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____The scout kept going. Charlie and Memo both screamed as they tore towards the wall, instinctively raising their arms in front of their faces. Conan cowered at the noise._ _ _ _

____Bumblebee laughed eagerly, and they drove right into the rockwall._ _ _ _

____x-x-x_ _ _ _

____Charlie screwed her eyes shut tight, and kept her arms raised protectively in front of her. In the seat next to her, she heard Memo screaming._ _ _ _

____But they hadn’t hit anything. She peaked one eye open, just in time to see the edges of a stone and rock fade harmlessly past them as they drove straight through the mesa. Her jaw dropped open in shock._ _ _ _

_____“What the?!” _she said, startling Memo out of his shock. The boy opened his eyes and his jaw dropped too, both of them staring in incomprehension.__ _ _ _ _

______In front of them, in the space that shouldn have been taken up by rock, was a wide expanse of desert and a long dusty driveway that led to a cluster of buildings in the distance._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Fast approaching on their right was a large aircraft hangar. U.S. fighter jets sat outside it on an asphalt runway and glinted in the sunlight. Beyond that was a huge complex of buildings rising up out of the sand. Cars and jeeps roamed around the base and Charlie could see the small specks of humans moving back and forth through the sand._ _ _ _ _ _

______Bumblebee couldn’t hold it in any longer. He laughed loudly, “Oh Primus, your faces!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Charlie scowled at the dash and slapped at the steering wheel lighty, “Not cool dude! But seriously, what the hell just happened?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Our base is hidden from the outside by a hologram, designed perfectly to fit in with the landscape. Convincing huh?” Bumblebee’s voice still buzzed with left over mirth. “It hides us from the naked optic as well as hiding us from radar.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Like Star Trek?” Memo asked, his eyes practically sparkling. “ _Awesome _.”___ _ _ _ _ _

________“Uh, sure.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie looked at the base. Then twisted back to look at the rockwall behind them. Instead of the massive mesa, they were now surrounded on all sides by what looked like giant stone walls of the same red rock. If she concentrated hard, she could see a faint light filtering through them, now that she knew what to look for. “The entire thing… that’s incredible. How did you guys even make that? It’s not human technology, is it?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“No, that’s all thanks to our scientist. Speaking of, why don’t we go see if anyone’s in?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The scout accelerated down the dusty desert road, which grew steadily wider as the buildings grew bigger. A huge open hanger lay open in front of them like a mouth, filled with humans dressed in military gear bustling about. Various vehicles were parked or being moved as Bumblebee drove past, soldiers yelling at each other and barking orders. Charlie pressed her nose to the window eagerly as they pulled through the hangar doors._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The inside of the hangar was vast and open, like a cavern. Walkways littered the walls like scaffolding and the floor was a mess of movement and life. Chaotic and fascinating Charlie couldn’t look away. It was all so much to take in, she couldn’t register everything at once. As they rolled past, the humans pointedly kept their distance._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Suddenly golden plating flashed past her window and Bumblebee jerked to the side. A huge pede landed right beside where they’d been, and a loud yelp came from above them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Primus, Bumblebee!” A tall golden Autobot stumbled away from them, carefully balancing a giant crate in his servos. He was large, larger than Bumblebee with black and golden-yellow paint that was perfectly applied. His faceplates were set in a scowl and framed with the sweeping wings of a grill on either side of his helm. “Watch where you’re going!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Sorry Sunstreaker!” Bumblebee called back, though his tone was more playful than anything._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The golden Autobot did a double take. “...Your voice! You’re… speaking?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee rolled to a stop and opened his doors, letting the humans out.  
Charlie hopped out of her seat, gathering Conan up in her arms. She watched as Memo carefully levered himself out of Bumblebee’s cab as well, before the scout rolled back a few yards and transformed.  
“Yeah, Charlie here fixed me up! Tightened some loose circuits or something - it doesn’t hurt anymore. And the static’s gone!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The words seemed to wash over Sunstreaker’s helm as his gaze caught on the two humans. He made a face of disgust. “Yeah, yeah that’s great and all. But you really let them _ride around _in you?”  
The mech shivered. “What if they get those… skin… oils or whatever inside you? Eugh!” ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Not everyone is so concerned about their upholstery, Sunny.” Bumblebee rolled his optics and turned around, ushering Charlie and Memo across the hangar floor._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie took a glance at the receding mech over her shoulder, his frame stiff in disgust. She frowned, “Charming.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee knelt down towards them, lowering his helm closer to the humans. His optics were bright and crinkled up at the edges, as he whispered conspiratorially to them. “That’s Sunstreaker, I promise he’s nicer once you get to know him.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee laughed, and Charlie couldn’t really stop herself from grinning as well. “I’ll have to trust you on that,’ she said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Oh my god! This is so cool!” Memo was looking around like it was going out of fashion. “The hologram wall thing was terrifying, but so _cool _!”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Oh, ‘Bee.” A new voice cut in. “Don’t tell me you’ve been scaring the little things with the holo-sheild have you?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie looked over to see the source of the voice. A lithe Autobot perched on a stack of crates a little way ahead of them. The Cybertronian was a mixture of various shades of pink and white details. She sat relaxed with one leg up, a long dark blade leant across her knee as she scraped a large whetstone across it with a shower of sparks. “Really, Bumblebee. We’re supposed to be acting in good faith with the organics.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee cleared his intake, about to say something before Charlie cut him off.  
“You seem one to talk,” she said, raising one eyebrow and gesturing to the femme’s long swords and the ominous grind of the whetstone along the blade. The humans milling around gave the Autobot a wide berth. Then again, they seemed to be doing that with all if the Autobots. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The femme threw back her helm and laughed, “Oh! I like this one,” she said with a grin. “The name’s Arcee.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Charlie, uh, Charlie Watson. And this is Memo,” She gestured to Memo at her side, who waved back awkwardly. Conan wagged his tail halfheartedly in her arms._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“These are the friends I told you about,” Bumblebee added._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Hm? Well, it’s a pleasure little ones. How’d your scouting mission go, Bumblebee?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I’m waiting to debrief with Optimus but…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“...It was certainly interesting,” Charlie finished._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee shot her an exasperated look, but shook his head anway. “That’s one word for it.” He turned back to Arcee. “Do you know where Optimus is?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Right here, Bumblebee.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________A deep commanding baritone filled the air, as a huge door on the side of the hanger swung open, revealing a tall hallway in the inner complex of the building. Through the doorway walked a huge red and blue Autobot. Broad chest and broad shoulders, just like the projection from Bumblebee’s radio two years ago._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Optimus Prime was followed closely behind by three other Autobots. A large red and grey mech with deep frown lines to his left, and a smaller white and black mech with a singular visor optic who seemed to bounce in place with every step. Behind them, came a flyer mech, some sort of jet with teal plating who was feverishly buried in a datapad._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Welcome back,” Optimus continued._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Thank you, sir.” Bumblebee straightened, and Charlie noticed that both Sunstreaker and Arcee had also stopped what they were doing to face their leader. Beside such an imposing mech, she couldn’t blame them. She felt herself shrink beside Memo, clutching Conan closer._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“We located the location of the Decepticon’s, and recovered vital but… _sensitive _information that I’ll need to debrief with you.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Optimus waved a hand to Acree and Sunstreaker, dismissing them back to work before he turned back to the trio once again. “Thank you. All in due time, but-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie felt the weight of his gaze fall on her like a tangible thing. Thick like molasses, having someone pay attention to you in excruciating detail. “-It sees you brought back more than just information. The least of which, your voice.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“This is Charlie Watson and Memo Gutierrez,” Bumblebee looked down at his friends warmly. “They’re the humans who helped me fight Shatter and Dropkick when I crashed on Earth. And Charlie’s the one who fixed my voice.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Well.” Optimus knelt, extending his servo out to the humans. “Then they are indeed honoured guests, welcome to our sanctuary, Miss Watson and Mr Gutierrez.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie gently placed Conan on the ground. Hesitantly, she reached out to the proffered servo and clasped one digit. They shook up and down lightly, in what would be one of the most terrifying handshakes of her life._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“My name is Optimus Prime, and this is my security officer, Ironhide.” He gestured to the red mech at his side, who raised one hand from his crossed arms._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“-head of Special Operations, Jazz,” The black and white mech grinned down at them, before flashing his visor cheekily. Above her, Charlie heard Bumblebee hum a quiet laugh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Conan bounded up in front of Jazz, and the Autobot crouched and wiggled his servos playfully at the little dog. The jack russell barked and wagged his tail, dancing towards the Autobot._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“And our scientist and weapons specialist, Brainstorm.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________The teal mech didn’t look up, still completely absorbed in his frantic scribbling on the datapad, until Jazz elbowed him in the side. “Wha? Oh! Oh. Hello, yes,” He glanced sheepishly down at the humans. “Sorry. Nice to meet you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Optimus?” Bumblebee stepped forward slightly, then seemed to hesitate on his words. “I rescued them from the coast, their homes were destroyed with the Decepticon’s arrival and… they have nowhere else to go.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Optimus hummed under his breath. He looked down at Charlie and Memo. “This is a question for you, not me. Do _you _wish to stay with us?”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________"Uh," Charlie said eloquently. She and Memo both nodded._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Very well,” Optimus straightened once again to his full height. “We will make preparations.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Sir, not tah be nitpicky,” The red mech, Ironhide, spoke up. “But these two don’t have clearance, and they ain’t the human military either. We mightn’t be able to…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________The prime raised a hand, cutting off his officer. “As of this moment, provided that both Miss Watson and Mr Gutierrez agree, they are considered allies of the Autobot cause and seeking asylum. We will grant their request,” he rumbled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Charlie honestly didn’t know what she was feeling. A confusing mash of hope and excitement and anxiety all mixed into one. She felt jittery all over, although that could’ve been because of the fatigue. All at once, she became aware of how she looked. Tired, beaten, bruised. Half of her shirt was ripped up the back by Starscream’s talons and her hair was a greasy mess._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________She snuck a glance at Memo, he looked much the same. Completely wipe. His DIY leg brace was starting to fall off around his ankle and he had to keep tugging it up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Optimus followed her gaze, then smiled softly. “It seems you have had quite the excursion.” He placed one servo on his audial to signify an internal communication. "Someone will be here shortly to escort you to the hospital wing and then to some temporary accommodations.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________He turned away, gesturing for the other mechs to follow him. “Bumblebee, I will see you in my office for your report.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Charlie watched the mechs walk back out through the doors and suddenly felt lightheaded.  
A warm servo pressed against her shoulder and she turned her head to see Bumblebee’s face beside her, his optics crinkled up in a smile. She reached up and patted his servo with a relieved sigh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Bumblebee chuckled. “See you soon.” Then he stood and followed Optimus out the door._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Charlie and Memo only had to wait for a minute, before the sound of wheels on concrete appeared behind them. They turned around, only to find that the owner of the wheels wasn’t a car or a motorbike, but a lot smaller._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________A man, probably late 20s, with mousy brown hair and blackrimmed glasses rolled up to them. He smiled brightly as he stopped his wheelchair alongside them, holding out a hand to the teens. “Hiya! Chip Chase, but you can call me Chip. Let’s get you two cleaned up, shall we?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Starscream stomped across the bridge of the Nemesis Every ten yards or so he spun on his heel and stomped back. The force of his glare almost melted the plating of the mechs lined up in front of him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Thundercracker, Skywarp, Slipstream, Acidstorm and Ramjet stood to attention stiffly. Shockwave stood off to the side, watching silently._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Starscream paused in his pacing to drag his claws down his faceplate, then reared back and slammed his fist into a nearby control panel. The panel ruptured in a shower of sparks._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________He whirled back to face the others. “Not only did you three fail to _kill _the Autobot, you also lost the energon!”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Ramjet cringed, “Well, sir, ‘lost’ isn’t quite-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“-OH THAT’S RIGHT. No. Sorry, my mistake. You _DESTROYED _the energon!”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________All of the seekers shrank back, flinching. Starscream carried on his tirade, his field stabbing at the others’ plating with hot rage._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“One job. One! And you call yourselves Decepticons, tch! I should throw you out the airlock right now!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Starscream stopped, venting heavily. Optics blown wide. He sighed, and straightened up, one servo pinching his nasal ridge. “This is a disaster,” he said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Commander Starscream?” Slipstream tentatively asked, “What do we do now, sir?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Thundercracker bristled beside her, “Where there’s one, there’s bound to be more of them. We should root out that scraplet and make him tell us where the rest of them are.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“We tried that! It didn’t work! He’s made nice with those little squishies down there and-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“-And you got your afts handed to you by them.” The blue seeker cut her off._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Skywarp snorted a laugh, not even bothering to hide it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________The seekers devolved into bickering, all of them clamoring over each other about what they should do next. The bridge was soon filled with the cacophony of voices arguing, and the seekers leaned into each other’s space, wings flipping up threateningly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Shockwave shifted slightly, crossing his arms. His single optic was, as always, unreadable - but Starscream could feel the weight of scrutiny upon him. It made his plating itch._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Finally, enough was enough._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Thundercracker! Skywarp!” Starscream tried in vain to cut across the noise. His clenched his fists and _pushed _through the trine bond.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Thundercracker and Skywarp both flinched back as their sparks suddenly burned. A stabbing pain right through the middle of their chests. They faced their leader immediately, turning away from the other seekers. With one withering glare from Starscream, the others shut up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Thundercracker. Initiate cloaking procedures, we need to hide the ship. It will not do for us to be out in the open anymore. We can’t run the risk of being seen.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Shockwave cleared his intake with a feigned cough. Starscream pointedly ignored him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Skywarp! I want a task force assigned to track down that Autobot. I want him found, and I want him dead. After we extract our information.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Thundercracker and Skywarp nodded, then walked stiffly away. Starscream watched them go with a scowl._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Ahem,” Shockwave said again. Creepily fake in his monotone voice as he stepped forwards. “Your seekers will also need to assume cover. Disguises. To hide from the Autobots, it is only logical to hide from the humans as well.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Starscream glared at him. Primus, could the mech not go a cycle without sticking his nose in it? Still, he considered, Shockwave had a point._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________He looked back at the other three seekers with a scheming grin. “You know, that’s not such a bad idea.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Slipstream! Acidstorm! Ramjet! You will be the first assigned a change in alt mode. We will pick a suitable human vehicle, and take on its form.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________The three seekers shuddered. Taking on a human vehicle? Disgusting, Starscream could quite agree. But, it was a necessity._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________His grin widened. “And as punishment for the Decepticon cause, our dear friend Shockwave here will help you with the frame changing. _Manually. _”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The seekers paled, shrinking away from him minutely. They nodded reluctantly, and Starscream walked away with a cackle._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The doctors in the hospital wing processed them quickly, checking them over and treating their wounds. It wasn’t long before Charlie and Memo found themselves spit back out, their bodies littered with new bandages and a bottle of painkillers each._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Charlie walked, almost in a daze, past the doctors and nurses as they bustled around. She and Memo, (now with a proper ankle cast and a pair of crutches) made their way to the entrance, where Chip was still waiting for them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The man grinned at them as they approached, petting Conan absentmindedly in his lap. On the walk to the hospital, he’d told them a few things about himself which Charlie somehow got her exhausted brain to remember. Here at the Autobot base, Chip worked as the head of technology. A genius in computers and programming, Chip worked closely with the Autobots in almost all things technical, including field communications and security._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________He seemed nice, soft spoken and kind. Despite the fact that being a tour guide was decidedly not in his job description. Then again, perhaps that’s why he’d been chosen. A genuine, if slightly unprepared face was far better than a shallow and fake one, Charlie figured._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“How’d it go?” he asked as they slowed to a stop beside him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Fine,” Memo said with a grimace, “Though I’m more bandaid than man, now.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Charlie rolled her eyes, then had to stifle a yawn beneath her hand. Everything ached, and her mind was both completely overworked and stuttering to a standstill._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Chip gave her a sympathetic smile, and reached down slightly to unlock his wheelchair brake. “It’s been a long few days, huh? Well, come on. I’ll show you to a spare room until we can get you guys officially added to the register. The tour can wait till tomorrow.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Abruptly, Charlie found herself standing in the doorway of a basic apartment room, waving to Chip as he rolled away back down the hallway._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Memo flopped on one of the two single beds, grinning at her tiredly. He gestured around him with a wave of his hand. “We’re roomies, huh?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“For now,” Charlie rolled her eyes. “But don’t get comfy, I know you snore.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Touché.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Charlie walked back over to the other bed, taking in the pile of stuff that had been quickly dropped there. Their bags, battered and bruised from the journey and bumping around in Bumblebee’s trunk. Just looking at them made her eyes hurt.  
But there, on the corner of the bed were two piles of clean and fresh clothes. Basic stuff that must’ve come straight from the commissary but perfect in their simplicity. A t-shirt, pants, socks, a sports bra, and a pair of underwear. On the corner of the other bed, the same basic clothing in a bigger size, minus the bra. Charlie made a mental note to pay Chip back when she got the chance._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________She picked up the pile of clothing and held it up to her nose, breathing in the smell of clean cotton deeply. It was nice. Memo didn’t even notice as she walked to the adjoining bathroom and locked the door behind her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Charlie dropped the clothes in a pile on the ground and turned on the shower. The hiss of the water filled the small room and she put one hand into the spray. The coldness of the water hitting her hand sent a shudder up her arm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Slowly, the temperature changed. Growing warmer until it was almost too hot to stand. Charlie carefully slid out of her clothing, and left it on a pile on the floor. She peeled her ruined shirt off and dropped it on the pile with a wince._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The pile of clothing stared back up at her from the floor, and with a huff she picked it up and stuffed it all into the trash can._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The hot water hit her skin and she sighed deeply. Closing her eyes as the room filled with steam. The water ran down over her shoulders like it was trying to gently beat the ache out of them, and in some small way it was working._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Everything fucking hurt. The nurses in the hospital wing had given her painkillers, but all that had done was numb the pain. The bone-deep ache of exhaustion filled her completely._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________She opened her eyes and glanced downwards. The water running off of her pooled on the shower floor, rinsing the dirt and grit away with it. Charlie frowned and grabbed a bar of soap off of the shower tray._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Ripping the plastic packaging with her teeth, she crumpled the plastic back up and wedged it in the grate of the tray. She held the soap in her hand for a moment, looking down at the little green bar._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________So much had happened. She scrubbed the soap over her arms roughly. So much had changed, in such little time._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________She’d lost her home. Her family was… somewhere. The Decepticons were after some kind of super fuel and they were caught up in the middle of it. Her body was battered and bruised. She had no idea what was gonna happen next._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The soap left a foamy trail across her stomach, and she dragged it down the length of her thigh. It stung when the bubbles got into the grazes on her knees._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The Decepticons’ knew the Autobots were here. The media… She didn’t even want to think about it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________And now she was in a military base, with the Autobots and Sector 7 seemingly working together? Sorta? And, holy shit, she hadn’t even thought of it before, but there was no way she was making it to her first semester of college._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The heat of the water was actually kinda nice on her skin. She ran one hand carefully over her chest, feeling the tender skin of the bruise over her ribs. Still red and deep purple, it hurt to touch and raise her arms. The doctor had said all she had to do was wait, and that there wasn’t really any better way to heal a broken rib._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Still, she wished it would heal faster. It had only been a few days, but she was already sick of the stab of pain every time she twisted or raised her arms. The tightness in her chest if she breathed too hard or coughed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________God, it had only been a few days._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Charlie threw her hair back in the shower, and carefully reached up to run her fingers through it. She uncapped a bottle of cheap hotel-brand shampoo and poured it into her palm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________So very much had changed, in such a short amount of time. Almost none of it good. But then again, not everything had turned out bad. They were still alive, for one thing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The shampoo felt really nice in her hair, cutting through the grease that had built up over the last few days._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________She and Memo were still together. Even Conan was still with them. Bumblebee, unbelievably, had come back. They’d stopped the Decepticons from getting their hands on some of the energon. And they were with Bumblebee’s friends, the Autobots._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Charlie… honestly didn’t know what to think about them. From what little she’d seen of them, they seemed nice enough. Optimus was imposing, but she instinctively felt that she could trust him. And, well, if Bumblebee trusted them… then she would trust them as well._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________She stood in the water for a moment. Just… letting her mind sit. Stop. Just for a second._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Reluctantly, she turned off the shower and pulled back the shower curtain. The steam filled the room with little clouds and left beaded condensation on the mirror. Charlie stepped out onto the shower mat and grabbed a folded towel off the bench, wrapping it around her body. She looked into her blurry, fuzzy figure in the mirror._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Well, at least one thing had stayed the same. Aside from the wet hair and dark under eyes, that was the same Charlie she woke up to every morning._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Despite being the middle of the day, the room was dark. Charlie and Memo laid flopped on their beds, bags and junk roughly shoved on the floor. Conan and Memo were cuddled up together, both snoring softly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Charlie drifted in and out of consciousness, dozing. Until a quiet knock came at the door to their room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________She debated just ignoring it, but eventually dragged herself off of the bed and towards the front of the room. Her bare feet padded softly on the linoleum floor as she moved across the room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________She opened the door slowly, quietly so as not to wake her friend and peeked out into the hallway._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________In front of her, awkwardly crunched in much-too-small passageway was Bumblebee. He was crouched, his doorwings folded away and shoulder pauldrons just barely grazing the roof. He buzzed a soft greeting._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Charlie rubbed her eyes and stepped out into the hallway. “Hey, ‘Bee.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Hey.” His helm tipped to one side. “Are you okay?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Yeah, yeah. Yeah I’m fine. We’re both fine. How about you? How’d your meeting with Optimus go?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The scout hummed. “He’s… concerned. But we’ll have to wait until he decides what to do.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Charlie nodded. Her eyelids felt heavy._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Bumblebee reached out one servo and lightly touched her shoulder. “Tired?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Hah. Yes. I don’t mean to be rude ‘Bee but what are you doing here?” she gestured to his awkward position in the hallway with a tired grin. “I don’t think this part of the base was designed with Cybertronians in mind.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Bumblebee shook his head, amused. “I’m just here to check on you guys. And-”  
He reached into a cavity in his plating, and pulled out a paper bag. The smell of warm bread tickled Charlie’s nose. “-I brought you some fuel.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Charlie took the bag from him with a grateful nod. “Thank’s ‘Bee. But I can tell there’s something else bothering you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The hallway fell silent as Bumblebee shifted awkwardly. He ducked his helm, almost avoiding meeting her gaze. “Charlie… what you did, it really scared me. There’s so much that could’ve gone wrong, it could’ve gone so much worse. You and Memo are wounded, and the fact that we got out of there without being any worse off is a miracle.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Hey,” Charlie stepped forwards, placing a hand on his forearm plating. “Hey, I think you’re being a little overly dramatic. We’re fine. A bit bruised and overwhelmed, but fine.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Bumblebee sighed and reset his optics. “Yeah… But still. Can you, can you promise you won’t be so reckless in future?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“I get it. I promise, I won’t do it again. I’ll just stick to climbing cranes,” Charlie said with a quiet laugh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The scout’s antennae flattened against his helm and he groaned, “Ugh, I’d forgotten about that. But that _was _significantly safer than making yourself a target for the Decepticons.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________They both laughed quietly, until eventually calming back down. Charlie squeezed his arm. “Thanks ‘Bee.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“Of course.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“I’ll see you later?” Charlie asked, stepping back to the door and cracking it open. She looked into the room and Memo’s sleeping form. “Maybe tomorrow. I don’t think we’ll be going anywhere for a while.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Bumblebee buzzed happily, and carefully transformed in the hallway. Charlie listened to the sound of his engine disappearing down the hall as she closed the door behind her and promptly collapsed back on the bed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woot woot!
> 
> Yea, Brainstorm's in this one, because I love him 
> 
> Also: we know from canon that cybertronian can scan a new alt mode individually and easily. So for th decepticons to change their alts its more of a "ew gross organic-designed stuff" than anything else  
> That being said, I imagine the process of having someone surgically rearrange your frame would be quite painful! Particularly if they went trying to be careful on purpose! 
> 
> Why would Shockwave do as Starscream asked? Maybe it's a show of good faith. Or maybe he just likes pulling people apart piece by piece.
> 
> Arcee is based off of idw Arcee!! Because she's baddass B) (but with a little of her TFP responsibility and kindness thrown in.)
> 
> 'Part from that, theres just one autobot left to meet >:)


	11. Hatchet (derogatory)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I missed a weeks upload, sorry, I kinda struggled to actually sit my butt down and write this one.

They’d stayed in the room for some time, just resting. The only thing that roused the two teenagers was a couple more knocks at the door. Random people bringing food and checking in on them, sometimes taking Conan out with them for the little dog to relieve himself.

Eventually, Charlie and Memo both felt they'd gained back enough energy to be ready for the next thing: a tour of the base.

Chip met them outside their door just after noon, and led them back through the winding hallways of the civilian residence, narrating as he went.

“-so they built the base here after World War Two, nothing special about it back then really except for its location. In total it houses over a thousand people, including both civilians and soldiers-”

Charlie and Memo walked beside him. Well, Charlie walked, Memo hobbled on his crutches. He wasn’t used to them yet, so kept scuffing his feet awkwardly on the ground and almost making himself trip.

“-but obviously not any more than that for, you know, secrecy reasons. We’re just leaving the civilian housing now by the way,” Chip continued. “Though, civilian is a loose term on this base. It pretty much just means anyone who’s not going to see active combat.”  
He jabbed a thumb into his chest proudly with a wink. “Like me! Since I work mostly in tech, whenever there’s an activation I’m usually in the communications section. Although, I’ve been known to do stints in tactical from time to time.”

They walked out of the residential block and onto a main hallway of the base, a large arching road that stretched around a huge curved building in the center. This particular hallway seemed to be the main thoroughfare, like a giant tunnel in a subway station filled with people bustling by and the loud noise of chatter bouncing off the walls. The middle of the hall seemed to be an unofficial ‘vehicle lane’ with a couple jeeps and even little golf-cart like cars being used to ferry people and supplies around.

“Wow…” Charlie breathed. There was something different about the sheer number of people on the base when she wasn't about to drop dead of exhaustion..

“Heh. No kidding. It can feel like a lot the first time.” Chip smiled at them. He gestured to the right down the hallway. “The medical center is where everyone goes to be fixed up when needed - as you can both attest. Beyond that, is the main hangar where you came in.”

He pointed back the other way, down the hallway towards a few more buildings. “The closest building on your left is the canteen, where you can buy your meals. Behind that is the commissary and military exchange, where you can buy… almost anything else. Cleaning products, office supplies, clothes, almost anything provided it’s in stock. Though, if it's not, you can always mail order stuff to be picked up. After the commissary is the barracks where the soldiers stay, and behind that still, the officer’s housing.”

“You guys have everything here, huh?” Memo said, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Oh, you haven’t seen the half of it yet.” Without even needing to check, Chip pumped down on the wheels of his chair and pushed himself right out into the hall. Seamlessly slipping through the foot traffic.

“Now, I know what you’re thinking.” Chip barely paused to wait for the teenagers to follow him. “Everyone you see here has special clearance from the U.S. Government. After all, giant aliens coming to Earth isn’t exactly something that they can treat flippantly.”

“...I’ll admit, it’s very weird to be around so many other humans who also know their secret,” Charlie said.

“Ha! I bet,” Chip grinned back. “Although, it's not really a secret anymore, huh?”

Charlie and Memo both cringed at that. But before they could say anything, Chip had led them across the road, and they were now standing beside the large circular building in the center of the complex. Chip rolled up to a large door and it slid open in front of him with a swishing noise. “This is The Pie.”

“The what?”

“The _Pie _!”__ he repeated with a rather goofy grin. “It’s our little nickname for the main building. The building we use for all the most important things here at the base.”

As Charlie followed him inside, her breath caught in her throat. It was a massive complex, with huge sections of glass that reflected light all around. Through the glass she could see glimpses of people working, some at office desks and some at giant block computers tapping away. It was incredible.

It was disarming.

Chip chuckled at her face. “It’s impressive, aye? We call it The Pie because it’s, okay well… it’s round, uh.” He rummaged in the bag slung over the back of his chair to pull out a notebook and pen. Flipping quickly to a new page he drew a large circle in the middle of it, then cut the circle up into five sections.  
“And it’s sliced up into five pieces, like, well, a pie. Imaginative, I know,” he laughed.

Charlie and Memo leaned in as he jotted little names on each section in a messy scrawl. He spun the book around to face the two teenagers and pointed at the first section. “At the moment, we’re here. The hall between the offices and tactical operations. On the other side of tactical is the weapons bay, where all kinds of armaments are stored and looked after.”

He poked his pen nib down on the page of the next section, labelled ‘science’. “On the far side, is our research facility. Consisting of a few laboratories, but mostly data analysis nowadays, since that Autobot scientist takes care of most of that stuff in his own private lab. And then there’s the last section, just across from the main hangar, comms! C’mon, I’ll show you around.”

As he started to move away, Charlie caught back up with him. She had to walk quickly to keep pace. “Wait, ok. Sure. We’d love to see everything, sir-”

“-Like I said, Chip is fine.”

Charlie gave an exasperated sigh. “Sorry, Chip. But please, there’s so much stuff going on and we really don’t know anything anymore. Can we just take this a little slower?”

Memo grunted in agreement, struggling to keep up on his crutches. “Yeah dude, I can only walk so fast.”

Chip looked back at the two of them with wide eyes, before he nodded sheepishly. “Of course, of course. I’m so sorry, please excuse me, I’m not very good at this whole thing. To be honest, I’m just excited to have more Autobot-friendly humans around. You both must have a ton of questions, huh?”

He led them through the hallway, and into the center of the complex, which opened up into a large circle area. It was big and dusty, the ground paved with a series of hexagonal tiles that led up to another large round building in the center. Chip rolled through quickly, beckoning for the other two to follow him. He nodded over his shoulder, “Ask away, and I’ll do my best to answer.”

“Ok um…” Charlie thought for a moment. “You mentioned you work in comms?”

They continued their tour, Chip showed them through the main part of the buildings until Charlie’s feet started to hurt. She was relieved when he finally called it and announced that they were done for now.

Although, she insisted they make a quick detour somewhere else first.

x-x-x

After Chip had led them back to the civilian housing, Charlie was surprised when he moved straight past their room and continued down the hall. She was even more surprised when he informed her that while they were away, they’d finally been allocated new rooms and all of their stuff (what little of it there was) had been moved as well.

It wasn’t long after that, that Charlie found herself standing in the middle of a new room, carrying plastic bags of stuff from the commissary and staring into space. It was sheer luck that they’d let her set up a tab to buy the essentials with, before she could get access to her bank account. Toothbrush, soap, new clothing, thank God.

It was a small apartment, but a vast upgrade from the previous hotel-room-esque place she and Memo had been crashing in. Her new room was big enough to comfortably fit her and Conan. It had a big lounge area in the middle, with a small bathroom off to one side and a bedroom on the other. No windows, but it was in the middle of a compound so what could you expect?

Charlie walked through the apartment slowly, pushing open the bedroom door. The room was quaint, with a well-dressed bed tucked up against the wall. The duvet had a generic flower pattern that was, in a weird way, kind of homey.

After dumping the bags in her arms on the bedspread she walked to the closet and slid the doors open. Inside a couple spiders had made their home between the barren coathangers. Charlie brushed them away with her hand before she yanked the hangers out.

After she’d carefully put her new clothes away, she moved onto the backpack. She pulled out everything worth keeping and dumped the rest unceremoniously in the trash. To be honest…. There wasn’t much worth keeping. When she and Memo had left California, they really had just packed the bare minimum.

Still, she dug her hand through one of the side pockets of the bag until her fingers touched cold metal. Red paint glinted in the light as she pulled out her corvette’s old keys.

She ran the pad of her finger along the edge of the key, feelings the ridges stab into her skin. Charlie sighed, and gently placed the keys down on the bedside table. The metal keys clinked together on the wood as she set them down.

The small click clack of claws on wooden floorboards came from behind her, and the light smack of Conan’s tail hit her ankle.

“Now,” Charlie said, as she bent to scratch between the little dog’s ears. “Let’s go find ourselves a Bumblebee.”

x-x-x

On the way out, she picked up Memo from the neighbouring apartment. The teen grumbled at having to walk with his crutches again, but with only a slightly threatening glare from Charlie, she managed to get him to agree.

Conan was happy enough, sniffing at everything they walked past and tugging at the cheap length of rope Charlie had macgyvered into becoming a lead. She didn’t blame him, the noise of the base alone was almost overwhelming, let alone how exciting it must've been for the little dog.

They kept going down the major hallway that encircled The Pie, passing the commissary and the barracks until suddenly they were in a part of the base that neither of them had seen before. Chip hadn’t managed to get to this part of the tour it seemed.

Ahead of them, was a large door that seemed to lead to another hangar, albeit much smaller than the one that they’d entered through yesterday, and so had much less people using it.

Just a little further on from the hangar, was another huge building, shaped like a giant intimidating metal gymnasium. As they kept walking closer, sounds of yelling and crashing grew louder.

There were two sets of doors in the huge gym, one human-sized and another that looked like a huge set of warehouse doors. Charlie and Memo approached the smaller set and pushed them open.

Inside was a massive warehouse, mixed with a gym, then with bits of a dojo sprinkled on top. Filled with human soldiers sparring or doing exercise drills on long blue mats. The smell of sweat and the warmth of the air wrinkled Charlie’s nose and she almost stepped back into Memo. On the other side of the training room were a couple of the Autobots they’d seen yesterday, the pink one and the white one with the visor, squaring up against each other whilst the golden yellow one watched.

But the biggest thing Charlie noticed was the stark line down the middle. It was as if the building itself had been metaphorically cut in half. On the one side, you had the humans and their weights and running tracks circling one half of the gym - and on the other a wide barren space, ringed with a couple crates and undersized crash mats for the mecha. Neither side seemed willing to acknowledge the divide. The humans steadfastly kept their distance from the Autobots, a few of them shooting glares occasionally in their direction.

Memo pushed her slightly, making an impatient noise in the back of his throat.

“Okay, okay, jeez.” Charlie walked out of the doorway and into the training room, towards the other Autobots. Conan trotted happily along at her feet.

Arcee spun on her heel and slammed a kick into Jazz’s ankle, making the mech cry out. He stumbled back, then dropped smoothly into a sliding kick at her pedes.

The femme stepped back out of range, stepping nimbly over his leg. Jazz flipped on his hands, throwing his frame up and towards her. She fainted left, and he followed, his fist connecting hard with her chassis.

The blow dented the metal and he slid past her like the wind. He laughed as his elbow flashed up and smashed into her jaw.

Arcee growled, stumbling backwards a few feet. She wiped coolant from her mouth with one hand, and with the other reached into the subspace pocket at her hip.

Jazz’s visor narrowed as she drew out her twin swords. The black metal glinted dully in the artificial lighting. With an evil grin, she flicked a button on the hilt and the swords burst into flames.

The mech flipped backwards as she lunged at him, springboarding off of his palms and back onto his feet. “Gotta try better than that, sweet-thang!” He jeered.

Fire flashed past his helm and he ducked, surging forwards to throw himself into Arcee’s chest, pushing her over with a crash. He rolled off of her and narrowly avoided getting skewered through the middle.

Arcee twisted like a snake, all edges and spite curled up in her lithe frame. Her blades cut through the air as she jumped back up to a crouch, keeping her weight low she lashed out at the white mech. She sliced, shifting forward with every swipe, backing him up further and further to the wall.

Jazz hopped back from every strike, trying to find a gap in her offense but it was just a wall of fire. The air itself was starting to crackle with heat. His bumper hit the wall behind him.

It was Arcee’s turn to laugh, and she whirled around dramatically before leveling her swords at the mech’s throat cabling.

“Yield.”

Jazz smirked back, dimming one half of his visor in a ‘wink’. “Now where’d be the fun in that?”  
With one hand he slapped the blades away, and kicked off of the wall behind him. He jumped up and higher than Arcee, grabbing onto her shoulder pauldrons as he flipped over top of her.

The femme’s mouth widened in surprise underneath him as he sailed past with a grin. Jazz’s pedes hit the ground with a crunch and he spun quickly, sweeping Arcee’s legs out from under her before she even had time to react.

She hit the ground with a thump and rolled onto her back, dropping her swords at her sides. She groaned and offlined her optics. “I yield, you win Jazz. Good match.”

“Hells yeah mech!” Jazz pirouetted in place, mangling the English language and being unapologetic about it. His speakers blurting out a piece of boppy victory music. “Did’ja see that Sunny?”

‘Woooo.”

Jazz stopped dancing. “Aww, c’mon man, you could give it a little more effort couldn’t you?”

Sunstreaker rolled his eyes from where he was leaning against the wall. “Eh, watching other people spar is boring. It’s just not the same as actual fighting, you know?”

“Well, how about a rematch? You two on me - and we’ll time how fast I can send you both to The Hatchet.”

Arcee groaned again from the ground, and Sunstreaker immediately stiffened. “No thanks mech, i just waxed my plating this morning, the scuffs alone-”

“Oh my God that was incredible!”

Charlie ran up to the edge of the Autobots’ mat, but still carefully kept her distance. “That was just sparring?! It’s amazing!”

Jazz spun on his heel dramatically, “Why thank ya, little missy. You’re absolutely right. Best of the best, this crew. Myself included.”

“I’ll believe it,” Memo said. He was doing his best to look cool whilst leaning on his crutches. It wasn’t really working. “That was some awesome fighting.”

While Jazz brushed the compliment off lightheartedly, Arcee pushed herself back up into a sitting position and glanced over. Recognition sparked in her optics. “Oh! Charlie! And Memo, nice to see you two again. Did your time in stasis help you rest?”

“You mean sleep?” Charlie edged closer, fiddling with the lead in her hands. “Uh, yeah. I feel way better now - things don’t seem quite as… imposing.”

Arcee gave her a warm smile. “That’s good, I hope you feel like you’re settling in around here.”

“Hmph!” Sunstreaker huffed in annoyance, turning his nasal ridge up in the air. “All it has to do is glare at us like the rest of them, and it’ll be right at home.”

‘Sunstreaker!” Jazz glared at him, and the golden bot seemed to wilt. “The humans ain’t ‘its’, we’ve told you this so many times-!”

Jazz’s voice began to rise and Conan whimpered, ducking behind Charlie’s legs. She looked down at the little dog, his ears pinned back and shivering.

She ducked down and began to pat at his fur, trying to soothe him. “Hey, buddy, it's okay. Ssh. They’re not gonna hurt us, they’re the good guys.”

She didn’t even notice the shouting had stopped until a large shadow fell over the two of them. Charlie glanced up to see Jazz crouching in front of her. He frowned. “Did I spook 'em?”

Charlie nodded slowly, “A bit. It was probably just the shouting…”

Jazz made a half hearted attempt to reach forward, like he had done when they first met. Although this time Conan was visibly shaking. “How do I…?”

Memo hobbled forwards and gently grabbed Jazz’s servo. “Hold your servo out like this, and make a loose fist.”

Jazz did so, and Charlie became aware of the gazes of the other two Autobots watching them closely.

“Now just hold your hand out to him and let him sniff it,” Memo continued. “And you can speak to him in a soothing voice.”

Jazz said something in the purr of his engines, a soft rumble that came from his mouth in a voice distinctly inhuman. “Sorry little buddy,” he added on the end in english.

Conan sniffed at the bot’s hand, then wagged his tail weakly. Charlie dropped the lead and let the little dog walk away from her.

“Now,” she said, “You can try and gently pat him.”

Jazz slowly ran one digit lightly down Conan’s spine, and the dog’s tail wagged harder. He jumped forward and licked at Jazz’s shin plating eagerly. The mech laughed and cupped the little dog in his servos, tickling him lightly.

Arcee shook her head in bewilderment, whilst Sunstreaker made a disgusted face over her shoulder. Charlie didn’t need too many guesses as to what that mech was thinking.

But her thoughts were quickly off that when the pink femme cleared her intake again. “Well, that was impressive. But did you both come here just to give us impromptu organic-relations lessons?”

Charlie felt her skin grow hot and she quickly shook her head. “Oh! No, sorry, we’re actually looking for Bumblebee. And uh, to be honest, we’re a little lost.”

“Hmm?” Arcee tapped on the side of her chin for a moment, trying to remember. “Well, he’s not here, obviously. Though it has been a while since he’s done close combat training… I think he’s actually in the medibay right now.”

“Ah!” Charlie jumped up. “Thank you!” She turned as if to go, then turned back. “...Where is that exactly?”

Arcee chuckled at that, and shook her plating out lightly. In one smooth motion, she stood and sheathed her swords at the same time. Charlie watched, fascinated as the blades disappeared into the armour at the femme’s hips in a flash of light. Arcee smiled at her and transformed, folding down into a sleek pink convertible. “How about I just give you a lift?” She popped the passenger side door open in invitation.

Charlie blinked. “Oh, oh no, you don’t have to do that, really. I’m sure we can find our own way-”

“It’s no problem. Besides, at least this way you’ll have some company. I think your friend over there is a little busy.”

Sure enough, when Charlie turned to look, she saw Memo totally engrossed in his talk with Jazz. The boy made a hand signal, and Conan rolled over obediently. Jazz’s visor flashed and his plating flared out with excitement.

“Huh. I guess you’re right. In that case, thank you Arcee, a lift would be really nice.”

x-x-x

Charlie sat nervously in the passenger seat of Arcee’s alt mode. It would have felt odd to sit in the driver’s seat when the femme was driving herself, in a way that she’d never felt when driving with Bumblebee. Probably because they’d kinda just met.

Belatedly, she realised that this was the first Cybertronian she’d ridden with aside from Bumblebee, and…. She didn't know what to do with that information. So, she kept her hands firmly in her lap, and tried to make her presence as small as possible as Arcee pulled away from the training room.

Arcee was, undeniably, beautiful. All pink and white curves that would make the best car designers cry tears of joy. The mechanic in Charlie desperately wanted to examine her, but that was certainly off the table. Having a human digging around in your engine might be ok for friends, but, like she said. Just met.

“You know,” Arcee broke the silence. “Jazz ranks higher than almost all of us, he’s technically Prime’s acting second in command.”

“Really?” Charlie thought back to the white and grey mech. Honestly he just seemed like a clown. A competent goof but not really what she would have pictured for the responsible leader type.

“Really. He’s not the head of Special Operations for no reason, that mech can be a shadow when he wants to.”

“Arcee…” Charlie started, a teasing lilt in her voice. “Are you making excuses for why you lost against him?”

“What?! No! I could take him any day! He may be like a shadow, but I prefer to go down in a blaze of fire and fuel. What is it you humans say? Like fruits and different coloured fruits?”

Huh. “Like, apples and oranges?”

“Exactly. Completely incomparable.”

Charlie waited for a beat. Silence filled the air around them, filled only with the sound of Arcee’s tires on the pavement and the wind whooshing past.

“...But I could still take him.”

Charlie laughed, and her ribs ached as she did so. She wiped at the corner of her eyes. “I bet you could,” she said goodnaturedly.

The drive passed quickly, and Charlie found that Arcee was quite pleasant to talk to. And considering that she was also the first female Cybertronian the teen had met who hadn’t tried to kill her, a welcome change of pace.

As they rounded the main hallway of the base, Charlie began to notice the stark change on this side compared to the places Chip had shown them that morning. It was completely deserted. If she hadn’t known better, she might’ve thought it was abandoned.

Where there were tons of people walking and moving around on the other side of the base, there was no one over here. Utterly empty.

When she brought this up to Arcee, the pink femme just hummed noncomittaly. “This is the ‘bot side. The humans don’t like to come around here if they can help it,” she said, and left it at that.

Charlie frowned, and retreated back into her thoughts. All too soon, Arcee was decelerating outside another huge door that stretched way above her head. Although this one was painted with a large red cross in the middle.

“Here we are.” Arcee opened the door for Charlie. “Ratchet’s medibay. Bumblebee should still be in there, so the doc shouldn’t give you too much trouble.”

Charlie warily got out of the seat and walked towards the large imposing doors. She hesitated.

“Just don’t touch anything, and Primus forbid don’t break anything okay? He hates that.”

“Heh, yeah. Thank you, Arcee. I’ll see you around?”

“Not like I've got anywhere else to go!” The pink convertible flashed her lights and spun a tight U-turn in the hallway. She revved her engine. “Tell Ratchet hi from me!”

“Will do!” Charlie called out after her as she sped back down the hallway, waiting until she was out of sight. Taking a deep breath, the human girl turned back towards the doors.

She stepped forwards and made a fist to knock, when the door slid to the side automatically.

The inside of the medibay was a large building with a tall ceiling, and shelves and screens littering almost every inch. Around the edges of the room lay a couple of large metallic slab-like beds(?).

Lying back on one of these beds and squirming away from the servos of a larger red and white Autobot was Bumblebee.

Bumblebee’s helm shot up as soon as the door opened. He buzzed happily when he saw her. “Hey Charlie!” he called.

The red and white Autobot glanced over his shoulder, and scowled. His plating was scratched and even across the room Charlie could see where his transformation seams had worn smooth on the edges. He was taller than Bumblebee by a good few feet, probably coming in about 15 feet tall, with a wide chassis and deep frown lines practically carved into his faceplate. His helm was boxy, and topped with a red chevron that sort of made it look like he was perpetually angry.

Then again, Charlie thought as she stepped forwards nervously, maybe that was just his face.

“Ugh,” the mech, Ratchet she assumed, turned back to Bumblebee and dug his servos back into the scout’s plating. “Another one? By the Well, don’t we have enough of these squishies running around underpede?”

Bumblebee seemed not to notice the other mech’s rudeness. “Doc, this is Charlie. And Charlie, this is Ratchet - the medic I told you about!”

Charlie walked into the medibay proper, and suddenly the sheer scale of the room hit her. The bed that Bumblebee was on was huge, and the mech before her was massive as well. He bent over the scout’s chassis and grumbled under his breath, his servos working quickly and fiddling with… something under his plating. From this angle, she couldn’t see.  
But still, curiosity sparked inside her and she had to fight down the urge to climb onto the bed and look for herself.

She settled for a little wave. “Uh, hi. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Ratchet didn’t look up, but scoffed. “Sure you have. Listen, I’m busy here so why don’t you run along. Bumblebee will find you later and-”

“Ratchet, she’s the one who fixed my vocaliser!”

The medic rolled his optics and grumbled something about being interrupted, before he stopped. The words caught up with him. He lifted one brow and side eyed Charlie without tilting his helm. “...Really?” he asked Bumblebee.

Charlie crossed her arms. “Really.”

“She’s been training to be a mechanic for ages! Like, her whole life. She fixed me up when I first came to Earth, and she fixed me again when I found her this time.”

Ratchet finally turned away from the scout and faced Charlie fully, glaring down at her from so very high up. “You, an organic with no proper training, managed to knock around enough loose screws in Bumblebee’s vocaliser to fix it?”

“That's highly unlikely, but…” he continued muttering to himself. His optics unfocused a little and he rubbed at his aching with one servo. “I suppose given the extensive repairs I’d already managed to make with the replacement vocoder…”

He bent over the medbay slab, staring hard at Charlie. His gaze scrutinised every part of her. She shifted uncomfortably, feeling a bit too much like a bug under a microscope for her liking.

“Yeah, well,” she said, flustered. “What of it?”

The medic cleared his intake roughly, and narrowed his optics. “‘What’ nothing. You caught a lucky break with the repairs, since they were obviously so minor. But now I’ve got even more work to do, since I have to go back and check that everything is still in the right place - and will stay there.”

Charlie stepped back a little in shock. How rude! Didn’t Bumblebee say this was his friend? She shot a questioning look at the scout, but he just shrugged back at her, seemingly uncaring. He tried to say something but was cut off as his helm was roughly yanked back into position with a growl of “hold still” from the medic.

The human girl waited for a moment, then seeing as nothing else was happening, sighed. What a cranky old man, yelling at her and then completely ignoring her. This time, he didn’t even have the decency to tell her to shove off. She stood there, on the floor, biting her lip and debating what to do next.

After all, she wasn’t about to step on the medic’s toes. Not when his pede was almost half her height.

She was just about to turn to go, when a large hand grabbed her by the back of her shirt and lifted her up. She let out a surprised yelp and barely had time to struggle before she found herself plopped down on the side of the medbay slab next to Bumblebee’s pedes. Ratchet let go of her shirt and with the other servo dropped a large torch in front of her. “If you’re gonna clutter up my medbay, you can at least make yourself useful,” he grunted.

Bumblebee visibly brightened, and he winked down at Charlie. “Better do what the doc says.”

Charlie, somewhat reluctantly, picked up the torch (which was about the length of her arm) and ignored the twinge of pain in her chest. Ratchet pointed to a nearby raised table without looking, and Charlie carefully stepped onto it, trying to hold the torch in a way that w ok old least jostle her ribs. She stood and, receiving no directions, aimed it at Bumblebee’s chassis.

The time passed quickly after that, and Charlie quickly lost herself in watching the medic work. It was one thing to watch the mechanics at Uncle Hank's auto shop work on cars, but this was something entirely different. His digits moved like liquid as they flew over Bumblebee’s plating, transforming into any number of tools before turning back into regular hands again. They moved so lightly, but pushed and pulled firmly. Even swatting the mech every so often to remind him to sit still. The medibay was filled with the sounds of clinking metal and grumbling from the medic. Occasionally yelling at the scout to stop wriggling or none-too-gently reminding Charlie to hold the torch higher.

By the time her arms had begun to shake, they were finally done and she dropped the torch with a relieved sigh. She rubbed at her aching muscles.

Ratchet said nothing, didn’t even look at either of them, just wiped off his tools and stomped away. He disappeared into the back of the medibay leaving only a trail of muttered grumbles behind him.

Bumblebee sat up quickly, his doorwings fanned out behind him and he buzzed a happy note. He leaned towards Charlie and she smiled back at him, resigned to him lightly tousling her hair. “That wasn’t so bad, huh?” he said.

“Are you sure? From the amount you were squirming you weren’t so keen on it,” Charlie teased back. She playfully batted the scouts hand away and jumped back onto the medbay slab. “Now what? Do you have a schedule or something?”

Bumblebee’s doorwings dipped. “Ah, yeah… I’d forgotten about that.” He gestured at his newly fixed up plating. “Now that Ratchet’s fixed me, I’m cleared for duty again. I’ve got a patrol shift soon.”

“Oh. Well, do you mind if I come with?”

Instantly, the scout perked up again, his optics crinkling up in that familiar pseudo-smile that Charlie had grown so used to. She grinned back, and let him lift her down to the ground.

x-x-x

It was only a short distance to the main hangar, which she reckoned wasn't such a bad idea. It would certainly make things easier for mecha coming back from a mission if the medibay was close. Particularly if they were… indisposed.

Bumblebee hummed, and the lights on his dash flashed once in a question.

"Oh, I'm fine 'Bee," Charlie said. She patted his steering wheel fondly. "Just thinking. But anyway, where are we off to next?"

"Just out into the desert." Bumblebee pulled through one set of doors and into the hangar, and suddenly the muffled sound of bustle surrounded them. As they got closer, people leapt apart to put distance between themselves and the scout. "It's… actually kinda boring, but we patrol a couple times daily. Can't be too vigilant," he continued with a chuckle.

Charlie barely heard him, too busy staring at one group of soldiers who'd jumped out of the way. She could see them muttering to one another and shooting glances at her and Bumblebee as they rolled past.

One of them caught her eye, and he scowled. He was tall with fair skin, a hulking frame, and short shaved hair. His little beady eyes shone with disgust, and he reached into his pocket. "Watch it, tin can!" He yelled, pulling out a pen and throwing it at them.

Charlie startled as the pen hit the windshield and bounced away, and she slammed on Bumblebee's brakes. The scout yelped in surprise as his tires squealed on the concrete. She rolled the window down and stuck her head out with a scowl. "Watch it yourself, dickhead!

The soldier bristled and started to march forward, "Or what? Are you gonna try and make me?"

Before she could say anything back, Bumblebee surged forward, wrenching his steering wheel out of her grip.

"Sorryitwon'thappenagainhaveaniceday-!" The scout blurted out rapidly and hit the gas. The seatbelt slung itself across her chest and pulled her firmly back into the seat, winding up the window quickly.

"Hey!" Charlie turned her glare on the dash as they sped away. "What was that about?"

"It was my fault, I should've been going slower until we left the base."

"But didn't you see his face? He just, I… He was being an asshole!" Charlie huffed in exasperation.

"Not all of the humans are… well, used to us yet I suppose." Bumblebee said. He coughed kinda awkwardly "Let's just get going, huh? We can talk more when we're out of here."

Turns out that a 'patrol' consisted mostly of just driving a huge circle around the perimeter of the base. It was a little surprising actually how big the area actually was, at least a few miles wide in each direction when they followed the chain length fence. It felt even bigger with the sun beating down overhead, glinting off of the stone and making everything glow.

Outside of the base's holoshield, the landscape was the same arid desert that stretched through the entire valley. With rust red stone that stabbed through the sand and the huge mesas sitting on either side. Charlie stared out the window, watching the sand whip by.

The sound of static filled the cab, and Bumblebee tuning through the radio stations until he landed on some soft rock. His wheels crunched on the ground as he turned, heading towards a rocky ridgeline.

"...do they act like that a lot?" Charlie asked. "I mean, I haven't been here long but I have noticed… the other humans seem to keep their distance. In the hangar, in the training room..."

Bumblebee hummed, but didn't answer right away. Instead he lowered the volume on the music a little and sighed. "Every human at the base was specially selected by your government's Sector 7 for the circumstances."

Charlie frowned. That wasn't a 'no'. She shifted forward in her seat to look at the dash easier. God, where did one speak to when one was literally someone else's body? "You're dodging the question."

"...They're getting better."

Her gaze hardened. "Bee, are they hurting you guys? They're still, I mean, it's the government. Sector 7! They attacked you, and if meatheads like that guy-" her fists clenched. "-are accepted onto base then-"

"Charlie, really, it's not that bad. We struck an alliance with the U.S. military, exchanging some of our technology for cooperation, but after the first time they worked with Cybertronians… can you really blame them?"

"I guess you're right, 'Bee. Sorry."

"It's fine, besides look! I really wanted to show you this spot." The scout revved his engine and they shot up the incline of the ridge. The ground leveled out beneath them and suddenly they were on a small plateau that looked out over the desert.

The sun-bleached sand stretched out to the horizon, and Charlie's breath caught in her throat. The view was beautiful.

The door swung open and beckoned Charlie outside. She looked at it for a second, before hopping out. The warm afternoon air wrapped around her and she shielded her eyes from the sun. Beside her, Bumblebee transformed and sat heavily on the top of the incline, looking out over the base. "Thank you for coming out with me. This view is so nice, and I never get to share it."

The human girl blinked. That was out of nowhere. But she sat down next to her friend anyway, patting him lightly on the arm. "No problem, I'm just glad to be here. And yeah," she looked out over the base. Still so impressive by its size, and a technological wonder. "It's an amazing view."

Bumblebee hummed in agreement, then tipped his head to one side like a puppy dog. "Wait, did you say you went to the training room?"

"Yeah! Memo and I were looking for you, but we found some of the others instead. Jazz, Arcee, and that Sunstreaker guy." She grinned. "Jazz kicked Arcee's butt in a sparring match - it was incredible."

"...butt? Oh, wait aft." The scout put a servo over his face as if to cover a smile. "Of course he did, he never takes it easy on us."

Charlie laughed, "Aft? You guys have swear words?"

"Of course!"

Charlie couldn't help her grin getting wider. "Aft." she repeated. The word felt weird in her mouth, but not difficult. Bumblebee stiffened beside her, the abruptly he broke into laughter, and Charlie fell into giggles too.

"Dude, you have to tell me more." She sat up and turned to him. Valiantly trying to box him in with her arms. "C'mon, that's so cool! Alien cuss words!"

Bumblebee shook his helm hard in between laughter, raising his hands up as if to lightly push her away. "Nuh uh. No. No way."

"C'mooooooon!"

He laughed harder and finally pushed her. One digit to the collarbone was more than enough to tip her lightly backwards. "Just hang out around Ratchet long enough and you'll pick up a few."

Charlie did her best to pout dramatically, and folded her arms tightly with a huff. Of course, feigning offense was a lot harder when giggling.

When she caught her breath, she rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah, Ratchet. That guy seems like a piece of work."

"He was impressed~"

"What?" Charlie gave her friend an incredulous glance. "No way, he's so rude!"

Bumblebee beeped an upbeat little tune. "Oh believe me, he's way worse with people he doesn't like. He didn't hit you with a wrench, so I'd say you made a good first impression."

"Hmmpf! That's a pretty low bar," she said with a grin, lightly elbowing the scout in his side.

It was Bumblebee's turn to feign being wounded, and he slumped dramatically over to one side buzzing and beeping mournfully and flailing his arms (although being very careful to not hit Charlie).

"Drama queen," she teased.

The scout laughed in return and sat back up. "How do you like it so far?"

"Like what, specifically?"

Bumblebee just shrugged, gesturing with one arm to the vast space in front of them and the base, hidden by the holo-shield. "I don't know, just, everything. It's a big change."

Charlie nodded, "It is." She thought for a moment, "It's… different. But kinda nice? The other Autobots all seem alright, with exception. Ratchet still seems like a jerk but who knows, he has to deal with impatient bots like you in his medibay every day so maybe it's justified."

Bumblebee rolled his optics at that.

"My apartment's nice, and Chip was really helpful. I miss my family though." She pulled at the hem of her sleeve absentmindedly, looking out into the desert but not really seeing it. "Not knowing where they are… I need to change that, but I don't even know where to start."

Bumblebee kept quiet, just listening patiently and letting her come to the words in her own time.

"I guess it's just… the holo-shield. Knowing that we're hidden? That the Decepticon's can't find us? It's weird, but also a huge relief."

The scout's servo came to rest lightly on her shoulder, warm and heavy. He exvented heavily and nodded. "It is."

"What did Prime say about the energon?" She fidgeted in place, pulling at the hem of her shirt. "I've been meaning to ask."

"He was just as confused as us. And apprehensive. They're still trying to figure out what to do before they rest of us about it."

"Really? Shouldn't they be telling everyone as soon as possible?"

"I don't know, that's something you should ask Optimus himself." The scout grinned down at her, energy returning to his voice. "And maybe he'd have an idea to help you find your family!"

Charlie laughed nervously, the Prime was big and imposing enough the first time they'd met. But still, Bumblebee's energy was infectious. "Maybe," she smiled back.

Bumblebee stood back up, and transformed beside her. He popped the door open. "Well, come on. Let's finish our patrol. Any music requests?"

"Ooh, The Smith's?"

He groaned, and Charlie smiled as she climbed inside. Her smile grew only wider as the opening notes to _'That Joke Isn't Funny Any More' _started playing out of Bumblebee's little stereo.__

____

__

* * *

[Map of the Autobot base](https://songs-on-the-radio.tumblr.com/post/638919231843581952)

[Autobot height chart](https://songs-on-the-radio.tumblr.com/post/638920399042887680/from-left-to-right-charlie-bumblebee-optimus)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some assets to help me keep the story consistent, but if yall wanna take a look I attempted to link them ⬆️ (hopefully it works)
> 
> Also: I've gone back and retconned out the minor detail of Memo dating Jack Darby from chapter 1 that I highkey put in there as a joke. That doesnt change anything in the plot up till now but just know that going forwards.  
> (He still very much will not have any interest in Charlie - they are the dream team platonic best bros and I will hear no different)
> 
> Unrelated but damn dude when I uploaded this it absolutely munched all my italics ;^; I worked so hard to put them in html formatting and now I dont even remember where they were. RIP.


	12. Work Meetings and Corporate Buzzwords

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternate title: Exposition Abounds.
> 
> idk man just take it i don't wanna look at it any more

Charlie met Bumblebee outside the civilian housing with a nervous smile. They barely waited for her to open the passenger door for Memo and help him inside before she found herself once again in the driver’s seat and driving off down the hall. 

They drove swiftly and without issue, but Charlie couldn’t help the tight feeling curling in her stomach.

She cleared her throat to try and break the silence. “So, Bee. Any advice on what to expect?”

Bumblebee just hummed soothingly. “Just don’t worry too much about it. You two are really just coming to observe, and be another human face on the Autobot side of the table. Really, you’ve got nothing to worry about - we’re all allies after all.”

“Yeah,” Charlie sighed and nodded. “You’re right.” I guess. She didn’t finish that sentence out loud, but it rang loud and clear inside her mind regardless. 

Memo nudged her elbow playfully. “C’mon dude, it can't be that bad. All we’ve gotta do is sit down and shut up and we’ll be fine.”

She rolled her eyes but gave him a small smile back as they drove into the center of the Pie, and the large clear circle area in the middle. In the centre of that courtyard sat a squat round building they’d glimpsed the previous day on their walking tour. Only now, the buildings’ massive doors were open and filled with people making their way inside.

Bumblebee buzzed lightly at them, and Charlie forced herself to get out. She rounded the scout’s hood and steadied Memo as he climbed out. He didn’t really need her help anymore, since he was getting better with the crutches, but it gave her something to do with her hands if nothing else. 

She stepped away, and Bumblebee transformed back to his bot mode. The scout stretched his pistons above his head and glanced back down at them. “Shall we?”

As soon as Charlie had stepped out of Bumblebee’s cab she felt eyes on her. She fell into step behind the scout and tried to stomp down on the nerves suddenly overcoming her as she followed him into the building.   
They entered what looked like a series of conference rooms that had been hurriedly converted into a large hangar. Lines of discoloured floor panelling showed where walls had been knocked down to clear the space, a space that was now scattered with tactical tables and overhead displays. Around these tables, people argued and pushed papers around, the smell of ink and frustration hitting the air instantly. 

Higher, suspended on catwalks that ran along the walls other humans stood and waited. The same scaffolding-type walkways that they’d seen in other parts of the base, with a few people waiting and talking to each other idly. 

Bumblebee ushered them towards a set of stairs leading up to the catwalk and Charlie couldn’t help but stumble slightly. The metal of the railing was cool under her palms and she gripped it tightly as she ascended. Memo hobbled behind her a little more slowly, since he had to kind of hop up each stair with the crutches.

Charlie stopped at the top and leant over the railing. The room looked a lot different from so high up, now she could see every corner of it. She scanned the crowd of people below her. Mostly older men. A couple women were scattered about, but not many. At one table, Chip was talking amiably with some others and scribbling something into his notebook. 

At least there was his familiar face, Charlie thought as she suddenly became acutely aware of how she stuck out like a sore thumb in this crowd. She didn’t realise her knees were shaking slightly until a warmth pressed against her side. 

She turned to look and Memo was beside her,leaning their shoulders together and giving her a lopsided grin. “This is gonna be interesting,” he said.

Bumblebee buzzed a laugh and glanced at them from where he stood in front of the catwalk. For once, he was actually shorter than her.

Charlie smiled back and leaned into the contact. Then she turned her attention back to the room. In the opposite corner, Arcee and Jazz talked quietly. Behind them that teal Autobot with the wings had his back to them and was fiddling with something out of sight. From the way his platting rattled, he seemed to be fussing. 

As the human girl stared, Arcee caught her gaze. She raised one servo from her crossed arms in a little wave, which Charlie returned. 

To their left, Sunstreaker pushed off from where he leaned against the wall and stomped his way over to Bumblebee. He carefully slid in beside the scout with a gumble, trying to keep his distance from the humans. The two yellow plated mechs bent their helms together and spoke quietly. After a minute, Sunstreaker cleared his vents with a huff and turned away from Bumblebee, his arms crossed. 

Charlie didn’t have a moment to dwell on that before the entire room fell into a hush. Standing in the doorway, was the large and imposing silhouette of Optimus Prime. 

He strode into the room slowly, Ratchet frowning over one shoulder and Ironhide on the other as they stomped along behind the Prime. The humans and Autobots alike looked up at him, waiting expectantly. 

Optimus reached the front of the room. “I am sure many of you have questions.”

A low mutter spread through the room like the wind, before the large mech raised one servo to ask once again for silence. He looked out over the crowd with serious blue optics. “And I shall do my best to answer them, as well as debrief the current situation as much as possible.”

“Following the return of our scout Bumblebee, much new information has come to light on the Decepticon’s presence here on Earth. We are presented with knowledge that can help us immensely, but... other problems have also arisen.”

He cleared his throat and extended one arm, unspooling a length of cable from beneath his plating. He quickly hooked the cable into the port of a large screen behind him. The screen flickered to life, and with it, a map of the Western Seaboard blinked into existence. 

“The Decepticon warship, the Nemesis, made planetfall off the coast of California. It caused damage to the Earth itself as well as disruption to the local population there. Up until a few days ago, the Decepticons’ were not hiding their signal. We think it likely their overconfidence is to thank for that.”

The screen changed, and suddenly it displayed head shots of several cybertronians. A couple of which Charlie recognised. 

“According to Bumblebee’s report, the commanding officer onboard the Decepticon warship is mech by the name of Starscream. A seeker infamous in our war for both his ruthless and _fickle _personality.” Charlie’s breath caught in her chest. Ah, him. The bastard who owed her a new shirt. “He is the Decepticon’s second in command, effectively answering only to Megatron himself-”__

__“-when he feels like it.” Sunstreaker grumbled, his voice only just loud enough for her to make out._ _

__“-and a formidable threat.” Optimus continued. He gestured to another headshot on the list and kept talking. Charlie couldn’t help but tune out a little as he went over the other known Decepticons. After all, one seeker who shot at her was much the same as another._ _

__“However,” She snapped back in, focused as Optimus’ tone lowered. “As of a few solar-cycles ago, the Nemesis has gone completely dark.” Heads nodded around the room, clearly this information wasn’t news to them_ _

__“This is undoubtedly due to the reveal of Autobot presence on Earth, during the skirmish at the human town.”_ _

__Again, the room filled with murmurs growing steadily louder. The tension in the air grew sharper. “Yeah!” One man exclaimed, “We know! It’s all over the news!”_ _

__The voices in the room grew louder. Charlie let her shoulders hunch and her hair fall around her face as if it would hide the rest of the room._ _

__At the front, Optimus sighed wearily. “Yes,” he conceded. “Unfortunately, the public now has irrefutable evidence of our existence. They even have some, albeit limited, video of the event.”_ _

__

__The red and blue mech hesitated for a moment, then stepped back. He turned away from the screen, to watch both it and the room at the same time. The screen changed colour in a flash of static, and suddenly they were watching a news broadcast._ _

__

__The anchorwoman looked seriously into the camera. _“Closer inspection of the video footage - many of which was captured via camcorder, shows the unmistakable shapes of large metallic creatures attacking this U.S. town.” _____

____The camera work was shaky, captured from a shoddy home camcorder. But still obviously showed the bright yellow of Bumblebee as he ran along the rooftops. Decepticon jets fired on him from above and Slipstream kicked out at him._ _ _ _

_____“Experts suggest that these creatures are linked with the large presently unexplained UFO that appeared over California a few days ago. Theories range from remote piloted Russian drones, to aliens. The U.S. government has yet to confirm, nor deny.” ____ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______The screen changed again, and Charlie felt her blood run cold._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______On the screen, projected 10 foot tall, was a mess of fog and rubble captured after the fight was over. Looking down on the square from one of the building’s behind the town square, she could see herself sprawled out on the concrete. She looked so tiny. Memo lay partially under her and they both looked utterly beaten up._ _ _ _ _ _

______Her breathing came shallower in her throat, and she felt Memo stiffen beside her. The cool metal of the railing creaked under her fingers as she clasped it tight._ _ _ _ _ _

______On the screen, she watched herself sit up groggily and glance around. The small furry shape of Conan padded up to her and she dropped a hand on his head._ _ _ _ _ _

______Suddenly, a huge shape loomed through the smoke. The camera had difficulty focusing, and Charlie could hear the cameraman’s breathing hitching just as her own did in the present. He leaned away from the window, cutting off half the frame as if trying to hide._ _ _ _ _ _

______From half a frame, the smoke cleared and a grainy, battered Bumblebee stomped towards them. The cameraman gasped, _“What the hell is that thing?” _____ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee. Bright yellow, and battle weary. Also, completely unmistakable._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The camera angle shifted again, as the filmer poked his head out of the window once again, just in time to see Bumblebee’s car doors slam shut and him to drive off with the battered forms of Charlie and Memo inside._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The news broadcast snapped back to the anchorwoman, who continued staring solemnly out into the camera. She spoke, but Charlie almost couldn’t hear the words - the rushing of blood in her ears almost overwhelming. She didn’t see Bumblebee’s antennae flick downwards in discomfort, and she didn’t hear Memo’s breathing get tighter and shallower._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________“-there are concerns that the two teenagers have been kidnapped and we are awaiting news of their condition, or even their ransom.” _But Charlie heard that bit alright.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Ransom? Kidnapped? No no no no no._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Optimus cut the feed, and the screen switched back to a neutral grey. The room erupted into voices again. It was obvious many of these men had seen broadcasts similar to that before, as they all seemed to have opinions on it. Loud ones._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie sunk down behind the railing, coming to kneel on the scaffolding itself. The metal bars did very little to hide her, but it was something. The room was dark at the corners. The walls too close and the ceiling too low. The voices too loud._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________The voices. The eyes on her. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Bumblebee’s helm popped up in front of her, now almost equal with her own face. He beeped something low and soothing. “It’s okay,” he said. “You haven’t seen it before, huh?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________No. No she hadn’t. She hadn’t exactly been in the right mindset to watch t.v. for a while - even if her apartment room had had one. She scowled back at the scout, hopefully conveying that sentiment._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He raised his hands in surrender, although he had to raise his voice a little to be heard. “Sorry. I assumed you already knew-” her scowl deepened. “-but don’t worry, everything will be cleared up, I’m sure.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie wasn’t sure what to feel. But one emotion was rapidly growing from the confusion - anger. Being on the national, oh God probably _international, _news was something you Told Someone About.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“So what do we do know?” Someone asked loudly, his yell cutting across the room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“They think it was the reds!’ Someone else chimed in._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Optimus turned over his engine, and stepped forward once again. “Agent Burns?” He asked, although the clamour of the room dampened it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie peeked through the metal railing as a man she recognised stepped away from the main table. With the same close-cropped hair and stony gaze he’d worn two years ago, Agent Jack Burns walked out in front of the room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________He thanked Optimus then turned to face the rest of them. The smart men in the room stopped talking and turned to look at him, but the loud minority, as always, weren’t so situationally aware._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________He frowned, and Charlie was instantly reminded of how scary he could be. “Alright, SHUT UP!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Almost instantly, the room fell silent once again. He nodded, and smirked. “Time for questions later gents, and you can wait ‘till then. After all, these may be extenuating circumstances, but I’m still in command.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________He gestured back up to the screen, “We have contingency plans for these scenarios and are working on the next steps but honestly, it's a bit rushed. Pulling a PR team out of our asses is less than optimal and proving a little tricky. This is an incredibly sensitive issue, so we’ll need to tread carefully.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Any ideas or options coming from you all as the senior officers will be noted and taken under advisement. As well as ways to…” he glanced up, and for an unnerving moment it felt like he could see right into Charlie’s eyes from the back of the room. “Mitigate the damage.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Apart from that, the tactical team has been assigned to try and track the Decepticon’s movements. We’ll need to shuffle some of the resources over from science…” he kept going. Listing the different departments jobs and updated scheduling._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________A good deal of time later, Burns finally handed the floor back to Optimus and stood to the side._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________The massive mech stood, and paused. He cleared his vocaliser once._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“We have received one more crucial piece of intel, which Agent Burns has already reflected in your scheduling. We have waited until now to tell the rest of you because this information is very… sensitive. We have discovered the reason the Decepticons’ are here.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________The teal jet-former, Brainstorm, stood beside the Prime. Even with a mask, Charlie could tell he was grinning from audial to audial. In his hands, he fiddled with a small container._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“When Bumblebee scouted the Decepticon’s movements, he tracked them back to the beginnings of a mine.” The jet said. “This whole time, we’ve been sitting on top of one of the most valuable resources in the universe - and we didn’t even know it!” His wings flicked up and down rapidly in excitement._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Brainstorm was practically vibrating in place as he fiddled with the container, then he opened it with a flourish. Purple light spilled out of the open lid and filled the air with the same eerie glow from the mine._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Arcee stepped back with a gasp, her optics locked onto the crystal sitting inside. Some of the other Autobots did the same, and the humans began to murmur nervously._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Is that…?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Energon! True energon!” Brainstorm crowed. “Even with the limited tech here on Earth, my ingenious scientific examination has confirmed that this is, in fact, the real deal.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Arcee shot a look at Jazz, who shrugged back, but his unsurprised look made it obvious he’d already known._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Next to Bumblebee, Sunstreaker turned and hit the scout on the arm with enough force to leave a dent and growled something under his breath. Bumblebee hummed back, raising his servos placatingly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“And judging by the Decepticon’s presence here, and the maturity of even this one specimen - it’s highly likely there’s a lot of it on Earth! Entire mines worth!” Brainstorm continued, oblivious to the rising tension in the room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Wait just a minute!” An older black man with an ash-grey suit stood up abruptly. “What exactly is that weird space rock?!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Optimus Prime rumbled his engines, “That, Agent Fowler, is the ancient fuel source of Cybertronians.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Agent Fowler didn’t sit down, instead raising one eyebrow. “I thought you lot drank oil and the like?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“We do. Synthetic energen approximates or organic fuels are common substitutes for the real thing, but energon is what we were originally designed to consume. Of course, that hasn’t been the case for many millennia.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Energon was naturally occurring on Cybertron, before it was mined to exhaustion. It is an extremely potent, and even _volatile _mineral-”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Charlie winced._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“-that can be refined into fuel for all frame types to use.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“It can also be used to power weapons!” Brainstorm supplied helpfully, his wings fluttered happily on his back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Fowler made an irritated noise that somehow carried even to the back of the room. “Okay, that’s great and all - but I’m not exactly seeing the problem here?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________This time it was Arcee’s turn to step forwards. “Energon is a pure fuel. We’ve been getting by on substitutes for eons, and substitutes aren’t the real thing.” She glanced at the Prime, worry seeping into her optics. “If the Decepticons get enough of it, and manage to refine it, they’ll have a huge advantage.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Optimus nodded gravely. “Indeed. However, there is still hope. Brainstorm has run preliminary tests, and informs me that whilst definitely Energon - it has a unique chemical makeup that doesn’t match the records.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Probably because of the organic nature of your planet,” the scientist waved a hand in the air dismissively. “But Prime says we should test it a bit more before we try and refine it. The Decepticon’s will have to run the same tests, _and _collect it first before anything else. Not to mention, no one’s seen a working refinery in vorn.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“All of that gives us precious time,” Optimus finished, looking out over the room of assembled mecha and humans.  
“I’ll now relieve the floor to the base commander.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________He stepped away, and Burns stood up again. But apart from reiterating a few of the proposed scout and research plans - there wasn’t much more to add. Soon enough, the meeting was over and Charlie found herself descending the stairs amidst a slow crowd of people readying to leave. She slowed slightly to keep pace with Memo, but her mind was lost in thought._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“Bumblebee!” A man’s voice cut through the crowd, and Agent Fowler was pushing through the sea of people to reach them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Above Charlie, the scout’s plating tightened minutely, and he turned to face the man with the kind of hesitation one has when they know they’re going to be told off._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“What a load of trouble you’ve got us in this time! I dont even _know _how I’m gonna bring this to the board, I’ve been dodging their phone calls for days now and they’re really starting to get pissy…”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________He was stocky, with a receding hairline and dark undereyes that spoke of too many all-nighters. His grey suit jacket was rumpled slightly at the corners, with a small coffee stain gracing the hem of one side. The look was the unmistakable one of working too many shifts in a row with only caffeine and spite keeping you going._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Halfway through his frustrated rant, his gaze landed on Charlie and Memo. He looked at them for a moment, before recognition sparked. “Hey, aren’t you the kids from…?” He motioned vaguely to the screen behind him_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Charlie sighed. “Yep. Not kidnapped though, just along for the ride.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________“Huh.” He turned to face her fully and held out a hand. “Well regardless, nice to meet you. Special Agent William Fowler, liaison. My job is to _mostly _-” he shot a look back up at Bumblebee, who wilted a bit, “-keep this lot in check. To mixed success.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Charlie chuckled a bit at that as she grasped his hand. “I’m sure. Charlie Watson, uh…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Friend,” Bumblebee supplied helpfully._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Friend.” She grinned. Yeah, that was a nice way to put it. ‘Hanger on’ didn’t really sit right._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“And I’m Memo,” her other friend stepped forward, awkwardly reaching through the crutch to shake the older man’s hand. “Heart and soul of the group. Nice to meet you too, sir.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________As Memo introduced himself, Charlie took the moment to glance up at Bumblebee. One servo absentmindedly rubbed at his arm where Sunstreaker had punched him. Guess he was a little shaken up, she mused._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________After all, judging by his initial reaction to discovering the energon - it seemed like a pretty big deal. And it didn’t look like the other yellow mech had taken the news all that well._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Wait, have you been introduced to Burns yet? He should meet everyone on base personally, after all.” Before she could say anything, Fowler had turned back and was waving across the room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Jack Burns looked up from where he was talking with Optimus, going over more fine details on a few reports. He looked up in confusion at the interruption, before he locked eyes with Charlie._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________She held his gaze. It was strange seeing those same eyes that had been so filled with hate and malice directed at her and her friends, now steeled with something else. Something firm but different, protective even._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________She watched his mouth move as he said something quietly to Optimus, and the Prime nodded. Together, they both began to make their way over. As Burns moved, a couple of soldiers fell into step behind him. One of which she recognised._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Miss Watson?’ Burns asked when he got near enough, a smile just curling the corner of his lips. “The original human ally herself - I’d heard you were on base, but I hadn’t had time to check in. And Mr Torrez! A pleasure.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Charlie nodded stiffly, but could barely tear her eyes away from the smug face of the soldier over his shoulder. That same dumb crew cut and beady little eyes from the day before, she could feel her blood rising. “Yeah, it’s good to see you.” She managed to get out._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Memo, of course, had no trouble talking to other man. Stepping forwards and effectively picking up the conversation entirely whilst Charlie glared over his shoulder. The soldier glared back at her, as childish and repugnant looking as ever._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Infuriating._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Burns noticed her stare, and followed her gaze. Completely misinterpreting the look, he flashed her a grin. “Oh, how rude of me! These two are my personal gophers today,” he said with a laugh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________He introduced the other soldier and Charlie shook their hand robotically, until he turned to the other one. “...and this is De’marco.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________De’marco stepped forward and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you,” he managed to grit out. His eyes flicked between herself and Bumblebee._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Charlie leaned forwards and grabbed his hand too, squeezing forcefully. “Nice to meet you too,” _Dickhead _, she whispered under her breath. Just loud enough for the soldier to hear, and his face screwed up in barely suppressed anger. Good. She wasn’t known for her patience or humility, after all.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Before he could answer though, Optimus cut the introductions short. “It has been a long morning,” the huge mech rumbled. “We shall catch up again soon.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“Right you are. For now, let’s go get some grub.” Burns agreed with a gruff nod, and with a flick of his wrist he, Fowler, the other soldier and De’marco marched away._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________As the rest of them turned to leave, Bumblebee fell back besides Charlie. She ignored his judging gaze on the back of her head until finally it became too much to bear._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“What?” She said, looking up at her friend._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________He said nothing, just shook his head as if in disappointment. Ah, guess the robot ‘super-hearing’ thing was still in effect. Charlie smiled sweetly back up at him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Bumblebee’s optics narrowed, but that pseudo-grin crept up on his faceplates. “You know…” He started. “I think Prime might have time for a meeting right now, if you asked.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Charlie practically recoiled. “Wha- no! Don’t you dare!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The scout buzzed a laugh and jogged ahead, “Hey, Optimus!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________And that was how Charlie found herself standing in the doorway of a massive office, following the Prime as he walked in. The room was large, with one giant desk and two chairs. A large bookcase lined one wall, but apart from that the room was virtually empty._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Just big, plain, and incredibly awkward._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________The silence pressed on her and Charlie couldn’t help but fidget in place. Optimus sat down behind the desk with a heavy exvent. He looked over her carefully, but his optics were unreadable._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Under her breath she cursed Bumblebee for putting her in this position. The tense buzz in the air was almost palpable and she was rapidly wishing she’d found a way to get out of it. The Autobot leader was huge and powerful and honestly… kind of terrifying. Everything about him exuded authority and it made her uncomfortable to have all of that attention solely on her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________She felt so, so small._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“You may take a seat, if you wish,” he said, and gestured to the other chair._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Stiffly, she approached and sized up the seat. It was clearly designed for people _significantly _bigger than her, and was honestly a bit of a patch job. Weld lines covered the surface and little of the metal matched in colour. But, it was manageable. With just a little climbing, careful to not jostle her body too much, Charlie pulled herself up and sat down.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Optimus chuckled, and his gravelly engine made the sound rumble. Something in her expression must have given her away, because he nodded. “Your optic is keen. It is scrap, but scrap cobbled together to work nonetheless. There is something poetic in that.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Charlie shifted. “I suppose so, uh, sir.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________He laughed again, and settled back in his chair. “You don’t need to call me that, my name is fine. But more importantly Miss Watson, how have you been settling in here? I regret I have not been able to ask sooner.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Charlie thought about that for a minute, not fully trusting herself to answer. What would he want to hear? For a second, DeMarco’s face popped into her mind but she shoved the thought away just as quickly. “Uh, good,” She said lamely._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________The Prime inclined his helm, but raised one optic ridge._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“Well, it’s relieving to know that we’re hidden from the Decepticons. Though not knowing where they are kinda sucks. Um, the cafeteria’s good? Mostly everyone seems nice enough, and it’s better than being out on the road but, well,” Y’know what? Maybe honesty is the best policy. “It’s also… concerning?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“How so?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________“Well, everyone saw Bumblebee on that footage, and now everyone knows you guys are on Earth and that means you're even more in danger than before. Because now you have to worry about humans _as well _as the Decepticons. My family is who knows where a-and, like, it all kinda feels a bit overwhelming.” She groaned and dragged her hands down her face. “And they think I was kidnapped apparently so that’s fun.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Optimus hummed for a moment. “If that concerns you, perhaps you should be involved in the media reply? We need someone as a representative after all, and you were the first human ally we had…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Charlie shook her head vehemently. Anxiety rising right back up in her chest. “And make it worse? No! I mean, no thank you sir. Optimus.” she cringed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________The big mech hummed. It was deeper than when Bumblebee did it, but wasn’t unpleasant. “Well, think on it,” he said simply._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________They lapsed back into silence. A silence just as painful as before, if not worse. It felt like the very air of the room was weighing down on her. Much like Optimus’ heavy regard, his gaze never wavering from her. She shifted uncomfortably under his stare._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Miss Watson, I’d be interested to know, what do you think of the energon situation?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Uh… I think its weird.” she shrugged. “I don’t really understand it, but the glowing crystal gig sure looks creepy. A super fuel seems dangerous, but I haven’t really thought too much about it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________The Prime exvented heavily. “I believe there’s been a small misunderstanding. Energon is not a ‘super fuel’.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“But Brainstorm said-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“-energon is powerful because it is rare. Because it is valuable.” Optimus cut her off before she start. “Because when everyone else is stuck on slag, those with the pure fuel have the power.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Charlie looked up at him in confusion._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Optimus straightened in his chair and leaned over the table slightly. “Do you know much of Cybertron?” he said, ignoring her silent question._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“No, not really. I only know what Bumblebee’s told me and… well until recently he wasn’t much of a talker.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Please, humour me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________She huffed under her breath, but complied. “It’s your home planet, where the Autobots and Decepticons came from. Where your war started and you were chased off of it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“That’s correct. It is also where energon originally came from.” His optics grew distant. “Many vorns ago, Cybertron was rich with energon. Mines covered almost every inch of the surface and no mech ever went under fueled. That was a time of prosperity for our people, Primus had blessed us with his gifts and we revelled in them.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Art, poetry, architecture, all disciplines flourished. For the first time in a long time, we were at peace. I was forged during this time, and it was glorious. We called it the Golden Age.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________That sounded… good. Too good. “What changed?” Charlie asked hesitantly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Optimus frowned and something hard set in his jaw. “It wasn’t as golden as we had thought. Corruption runs deep throughout almost all sentient beings, and our leaders were no exception. Energy is power, and power must always be controlled. Hoarded.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Over time, we mined the energon dry. And by that point, it was too late to do anything to stop it. Once we realised what was happening, Cybertron fell into discord.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“...Was that when the war started?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________He startled slightly in his chair, a minute action that wouldn’t have been noticed if Charlie’s attention hadn’t been rapt on him. “No,” he said with a heavy exvent. “Not quite, but that would come soon enough.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Energon was always a core part of our lives. It was fuel, ammunition, even a political tool. I am old enough to remember it from when I was a newframe, and I still recall its sparkle. It had more than just practical applications too, but religious ones as well. Primus gave his body for us to have a home, and his life blood to feed us. When it was depleted, it caused a schism in our people that we have never recovered from, despite the fact that many mecha online today do not remember it. It became something of a myth. I’m sure some mecha \would deny it was ever real at all if not for the history.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________The tall and imposing Prime looked different as he told the story. Something in his frame shifted, loosened, and Charlie felt herself relax. The previous anxiety leeching slowly from her body as his words washed over her. She was loathe to disrupt it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“I don’t wanna be rude, but why couldn’t you just find energon somewhere else? Maybe colonise a new planet?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Optimus chuckled at that, and shook his helm slowly with a small wistful smile. “If only. Energon is extremely rare in the universe. The only known place of it naturally occurring in any significant quantity was Cybertron. And now, well, Earth as well.” His plating twitched and he began to shuffle through some of the datapads on his desk._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“It is very fortunate that we were already here when the Decepticon’s arrived. Primus knows what could have happened if we were not.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Charlie nodded. He was right, they really were lucky the Autobots were there. Because what else? Were the humans gonna fight off a whole army by themselves?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________One or two mecha, maybe. Judging by how they took Bumblebee down. (And no she wasn’t still holding a grudge. She was working through that.)_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Thanks for your time, Optimus.” She slid off of the chair, taking her cue to leave._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________As she neared the door and they swished open, Optimus raised his helm back up to face her. “Of course, Miss Watson. It was nice to share a little of our history again. I had forgotten how much I missed that.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Charlie walked back through the hallways of the base and wondered how she came away from that with more questions than answers._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> careful OP, your history nerd is showing.
> 
> in other news, The Glomar Response is a term i just learned to describe that "neither confirm nor deny" thing the U.S. government seems so fond of. In my country, it's like a big inside joke to say that so it gave me a laugh lmao


	13. Papa, Paparazzi

Pain exploded through Bumblebee’s sensornet as he hit the ground. He barely had time to think before a flash of red passed way too close to his helm. 

The scout rolled to the side quickly, just as a pede slammed into the floor when he’d been only a nanoklik before. He grunted and rolled back into a crouch out of range of any more kicks. Small pops of static filled the air as his vocaliser growled. 

One good thing about being a scout, was having a frame for agility. Scouts were built for infiltration after all. For sneaking around and not getting caught. And if they did get in trouble, for being quick enough to get out of it again. 

This meant Bumblebee had plenty of practice facing off against mecha much bigger and stronger than him. Since, well, almost everyone was. But he had his scout coding to help compensate for that with hard and fast strikes, accuracy, and agility. He was younger than most mecha too, but he’d used his time online well. Training every cycle to build on top of his inherent coding - making himself into a living weapon.

(After all, with a conspicuous paint job such as his, he needed all the help he could get.)

So when Bumblebee jumped out from his crouch, it was with the smoothness of a well oiled machine in every flex of a piston. He circled the other mech slowly, waiting for an opening.

There! The mech’s optics flicked away for just a moment, but it was enough. Bumblebee sprung forward, unsheathing the blade hidden in his forearm plating and bringing it down in a wide sweeping arch. 

Ironhide grunted and caught the flat of the blade with his forearm. The blade scraped noisily down his heavily reinforced plating, and the red mech glared. He reared back and brought Bumblebee along with him, dragging the scout off of his pedes. 

Bumblebee tried to regain his balance, but the larger mech’s fist met his abdomen plating with a crunch. He doubled over as Ironhide released him, overbalancing and almost falling save for his quick reflexes. 

“Wow, is that the best ya got?” The other security officer taunted with a gravelly laugh. 

The laugh was cut off abruptly by a solid kick to the other side of his helm as Bumblebee spun back. He buzzed a triumphant trill as he landed the blow.

From the catwalk above them came a loud cheer. Bumblebee looked up and Charlie waved back at him. She pumped her fists in the air triumphantly when she saw him looking. Leaning against the rail beside her was Memo, who smiled and shot him a thumbs up.

A few other humans stood on the platform too. Some of them were just watching, but others were scribbling notes onto clipboards. He never paid them any mind. 

“Good job, ‘Bee!” Charlie called, cupping one hand over her mouth to carry the sound across the room. 

Bumblebee’s spark did a happy flip in his chassis and he waved back to his two friends. It was nice they wanted to come watch him train. Though it must get boring after a while, they both seemed to be enjoying it. 

Ironhide’s rough laugh returned, and he straightened with one hand raised to the side of his helm. “Not bad kid,” he said. “But yah’ve still gotta work on your technique. You’re favouring ya left side, and that leaves yah open to be thrown off balance.”

Bumblebee’s gaze snapped back to the other mech. “Yes, sir!” he tried not to let the giddy high of a successful hit seep too much into his voice. 

Ironhide turned back to the other Autobots. Sunstreaker and Arcee lounged against the wall of the training room, watching the spar. “Anything to add?” he asked. 

“You could follow through on your blows more,” Arcee said. Her gaze ran over Bumblebee’s frame in a way that might have been uncomfortable if it came from any other bot, assessing and judging every minor movement. But coming from a warrior like her, it was an honour to receive that criticising eye. Since he knew it would only serve to make him better and stronger in the end. 

“Yeah, and while you’re at it, you could stop trying to show off.” Sunstreaker grumble, just low enough for the scout to make out.

But apparently, not low enough to avoid Ironhide’s notice. The security mech’s hard gaze locked onto Sunstreaker. “Somethin’ tah say, mech?”

The golden bot bristled, but just glowered at the ground. 

Ironhide harrumphed, and strode out of the painted circle on the floor towards him. “Looks like we just got our next volunteer.” He grabbed the Sunstreaker’s arm and flung him out into the circle across from Bumblebee. “Go on, new match. Show me ya have enough skill to start picking fights wit’ others.”

Sunstreaker stumbled for a moment, but drew himself up gracefully. Bumblebee waved his doorwings a little and tried to reach out with a friendly brush of his field. The other mechs field was cold, and pulled tight to his plating. In the swirl of emotions, frustration teaked at the edges.

Bumblebee took a step back and lowered his frame into the ready position, bouncing lightly on his pedes. 

Ironhide watched from the side of the circle with keen optics. “Alright mecha, fists up!” He snapped gruffly. “Ya’ve been cornered on the battlefield. A ‘con is starin’ ya down with the promise of your offlining in his optics. Show me what ya got!”

Sunstreaker walked smoothly around the edge of the ring. The two mech circled, sizing each other up. 

WIth his focus on the warrior, the rest of Bumblebee’s senses melted away. Not entirely, he could still hear the distant noise of training drills and his friends cheering him on. And still feel the weight of his commander’s optics on him. But it took a backseat in his processor as Sunstreaker’s every movement captured his attention. 

The golden mech moved like a felinoid, like every move was a dance. Bumblebee knew that each step was a well practiced calculation. He wasn’t a mech to take things lightly and even in a fight, appearance was everything to him. 

Sunstreaker’s weight shifted, and suddenly a fist was flying past Bumblebee's helm. The scout jolted back just in time, training not to let the surprise show on his face plates. He barely dodged another fist as it flashed past on the other side.

Bumblebee ducked and tucked into a roll, throwing himself across the floor underneath the other mech’s leg as he raised for a kick. The scout sprung up behind him, and managed to get one decent jab to the back strut before the other emch spun around. 

Sunstreaker hissed in anger, and Bumblebee’s optics widened minutely.

“You okay, Sunny?” he asked in a low voice, trying to soften his stance a little to be more placating. “We can call this off if you want.”

The other mech raised one optic ridge. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? An easy win? Well, you’re not going to be so lucky.”

He launched himself at Bumblebee, and the scout felt his vents be knocked out of him as he hit the floor. Hard. Sunstreaker paused only a moment of him to grate their kibble together painfully before he rolled forwards. The momentum picked Bumblebee up again and sent him flying over the warrior’s head.

Bumblebee hit the ground again and skidded. Sparks shot up in his wake and inwardly he cringed at the dents he’d have to buff out later. 

"Keep your guard up!" Ironhide called from the edge of the circle. 

The scout pulled himself back up to his feet, before throwing himself at Sunstreaker. One fist caught the side of his shoulder pauldron, and Bumblebee darted back out of range again. Going up against a bigger bot than him, he was better off with short sharp attacks. He darted in again, jabbing at another sensitive spot on his plating before ducking back out of range. In terms of pure power, he couldn’t contend with a warrior class, but speed was his advantage. Still.

“What’s wrong?!” He said under his breath as he landed another blow to the golden mech’s side. “Why are you in a mood lately? More than usual I mean.”

Sunstreaker caught his fist before it made contact again and twisted it painfully. “That’s rich,” he snarled. 

Bumblebee’s wrist cablings cracked painfully and he couldn’t stop a buzz of pain ripping from his vocaliser. Sunstreaker’s optics were cold, burning with an ice he rarely saw directed at him. 

He leaned in closer, his events hitting Bumblebee’s faceplate. “Why didn’t you tell me about the energon?”

Ah. 

Bumblebee scowled back, “Why does it matter?” He wrenched his arm free - feeling some of the cables snap in the process. “It was sensitive information, Optimus kept it from everyone.”

Sunstreaker blocked a kick. “That’s not true and you know it.” His voice got deeper, a threat tinged the edges of his field. He faked a swing at the scout’s left, then followed through on the right. 

The blow landed and sent Bumblebee stumbling back a few steps. He shook his helm and looked up to see Sunstreaker’s faceplate inches from his own. “I hate being left out of things,” he said, and brought his knee plating up into Bumblebee’s chassis with a resounding clang.

Well. at least that kind of explained his behaviour, the scout thought as he tried to put distance between them. Sunstreaker was never known for his… particularly balanced persona. But still, this was a little excessive even for him. As the two younger members on the team, they usually got along just fine. 

“So what,” he taunted, in a brilliant show of his own self preservation coding. “You’re gonna throw a tantrum about it? Just because Sides’ isn’t here to reign you in doesn’t mean you get to take it out on me!”

Sunstreaker’s optics blew wide, then his face twisted. A red glow tinged the edge of his optics. “How dare you!” he snarled.

The warrior launched himself at Bumblebee, taking him down and pinning him under his weight. He trapped the scouts’ hips under his knees and pressed down hard on Bumblebee’s collar fairing. Not hard enough to seriously damage him, but enough to hurt like the pit. His frame vibrated with barely controlled rage.

But in an instant, it was snuffed. His derma morphed into a sneer. “Disgusting. You try to reprimand me but at least I’m not the one trying to impress the _humans, _” he spat. “Why you like them so much is beyond me.”__

__Bumblebee followed the tilt of his head and was instantly aware of the gazes of Charlie and Memo on him. High above on the catwalk, they looked down in worry. Charlie was gripping the railing so tightly her knuckles were white. It looked like she was fighting to decide whether or not to break up the fight herself._ _

__It made his spark spin faster in his chassis, and he raised a free servo placatingly. For once, he was grateful the training room was too big for them to hear what was being said amid the scuffle. He turned back to glare at the golden Autobot on top of him. “Why you _don’t _is beyond _me. _”_____ _

______“The human’s have done nothing but help since you got here,” he continued, “You should be trying to work with them!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Really?” Sunstreaker scoffed, and pushed his weight down harder. “That’s the story you’re going with? You of all mecha should know what the humans can do. They tortured you!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“ _And _they saved me!” Bumblebee tried to slowly moved his servos closer. Close enough to reach without the other mech noticing. “They’re our allies. We need to work together.”___ _ _ _ _ _

________“They’re not worth our time. Nothing’s happened since we joined up with them - in fact, everything’s gone to slag. We’d be better off without them!’_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You don’t really think that. You have to know we need them.” He inched his servos closer, closer. Almost there. “Sunny… If you’re having a hard time adjusting, we can help.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________“Why you-” ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee snapped his servos up and punched into Sunstreaker’s side. He found a gap in the warrior’s plating and unsheathed his blades. The blade sliced through a thin sheet of armour, and out the other side. Sunstreaker bellowed in pain, and Bumblebee used that opportunity to shove him off. He rolled away and the golden warrior slumped to the side with a curse._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________A cut to the kibble. Effective, but difficult to pull off without actually hurting a mech. Still an effective distraction though. Bumblebee drew himself up to his full height with a heavy invent and stepped backwards out of the sparring circle._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Good job, soldier.” Ironhide called out. “Both of ya’ve improved, I like the ferocity. It gives ya an edge ya just might need in a real fight.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Sunstreaker ignored him, instead shooting one last glare at Bumblebee and transforming noisily. He flicked his spoiler in annoyance and sped out of the training bay with a screech of rubber._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Ironhide cuffed him lightly on the shoulder, and Bumblebee flicked his gaze back to his commander. “Don’tcha worry about it. He’s huffy, but he’ll be fine in a couple a kliks ahm sure. Besides,” he grinned down at the younger mech. “Yah’ve still got your other friends’ here.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Bumblebee! That was awesome!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie jumped down the last few steps descending from the catwalk and started jogging towards them. Much more slowly, Memo followed behind._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You’re so fast!” she continued with a grin._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Heh, thank you. It’s kind of my thing.” He smiled back, as well as one can without a mouth. He scrunched up one half of his faceplate and shuttered one optic to replicate something he’d seen the humans do occasionally when being friendly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Judging by her giggles, he didn’t do it quite right. But the sound rewarded his efforts anyway, and he buzzed a laugh back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Memo caught up to them. “But seriously though, for a second there it looked like it was pretty intense.” He punched the scout’s knee plating lightly. “Lucky you pulled through, huh?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“It was never even in question,” Charlie answered, a grin tugging the corners of her mouth._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He said goodbye to the two humans and followed the other Autobots out of the training room. As they crossed into the Autobot hangar, he felt the fields of the others relax minutely. Stepping through the doorway and into relative privacy evidently a relief._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________As they walked through the doorway, Sunstreaker raced past in car mode and they all flinched back. His tires skidded as he leant into the drift through the doorway, leaving dark black marks on the concrete behind him. He took off deeper into the winding hallways, narrowly avoiding Jazz as the mech stepped out into the main hangar._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The black and white mech leapt back with practiced ease, and scowled after the clouds of smoke racing away. He threw a glance at Bumblebee and the others, “What’s eatin’ him?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Wounded pride,” Ironhide grumbled back. He walked across the hangar and tugged over an upturned container, repurposed from the supply shipments for the Autobots to use for.. Well, whatever really. Ironhide’s plating creaked slightly as he sat down on it. He exvented heavily and pulled out a ragged polishing cloth._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Arcee followed him and pulled over another crate, then unsheathed her blades and began to polish them. She rested the length of one atop her thigh and scraped her whetstone down its length firmly, sending little sparks flying up.  
“He’s fine, Jazz. Just seemed a little too into the fight with Bumblebee to be honest. But I’m sure it's just another one of his tantrums, nothing we haven’t seen from him before.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jazz frowned. He looked over Bumblebee, scanning the scouts’ frame for any serious injuries. “He didn’t nick anything vital, did he?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Nothing my self repair won’t take care of,” Bumblebee reassured him. “He mentioned being angry about having to work with the humans though, so that might be worth keeping an optic on.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Noted,” Jazz said. He jumped gracefully onto another stack of the containers, balancing perfectly on top. He sighed and gave Bumblebee a more subdued version of his usual grin. “Some mecha just don’t jive as well with organics, but they come around in time.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee settled as well, and began running diagnostics over his damage. He shunted those protocols to the back of his processor and let his frame relax as he leant back against the container Arcee was sitting on. “I don’t see why,” he said. “Organics are fine, even if a little weird sometimes.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Don’t forget ya’ve got a few less vorns on ya than most,” Ironhide looked at him pointedly. “And you came ‘ere in… unique circumstances.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The scout huffed. “They’re my friends! I just don’t like it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Arcee lightly knocked the side of his helm with the point of her blade, nowhere near hard enough to hurt. “For what it’s worth, _I _think your little humans are pretty interesting.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“What’s it like, mech?” Jazz leaned forwards, a grin splitting his faceplate. “Personally, I find it weird when they try to drive me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________They laughed at that, the air filling with the buzz of contented fields._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“That is a strange feeling,” Bumblebee agreed. “But Charlie and her family only really did that to me when I was still getting my memories back - so I didn’t mind as much back then. It was... Trust I guess, and I never thought it was weird.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Ironhide laughed gruffly. “From what ah’ve seen, the hardest part of dealing with humans is getting past all that red tape bureaucracy nonsense.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Jazz snorted. “Ain’t that the truth, never before have I had to do so much paperwork!” He pulled a datapad from his subspace and waved it in the air as if it burned him. “It’s just not my style!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The conversation dissolved into teasing, mostly from Arcee, and rumbling laughs from Ironhide. Bumblebee joined in and let his spark settle once again into the easy rhythm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________A rare moment of peace, without need for planning or training or fighting. Just a wash of warm fields over his own. It was nice._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Later, Charlie waited impatiently as the line in front of her slowly moved forward. Once a year, she got to take a step forward and got just that little bit closer to her lunch._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Though it wasn’t all that much to be excited about, she thought as she finally made it to the cafeteria station. Sad looking lasagna flopped over the side of her plate and she frowned. Turns out there was another universal constant, tray-served food always sucked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________She made her way back through the cafeteria, dodging around others in the tightly packed space. The clamour of voices and clinking of cutlery made it almost impossible to make out Memo’s voice, but she looked up to see him waving her over to the table he’d commandeered._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie plopped down in the seat beside him. “Hey,” she said with a yawn. Reluctantly, she picked up her fork and started pushing the food around on the tray._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Hey!” grinned back Memo. “Tired?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie nodded, and speared a piece of lasagna on her fork. She brought it to her mouth and almost choked as it burnt her tongue. When she finally gulped it down, she waved her hand in the air and shrugged. “Reality is exhausting.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Her friend laughed, and took a chomp out of his burger. They chatted idly for a while, falling into the easy rhythm that best friends have. A tide of back and forth in the conversation that seems to flow effortlessly. Even when the talking fell into a lull, they’d sit comfortably in the silence until one of them, (usually Memo), thought of another interesting thing to bring up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________So, it wasn’t too much later that he finally addressed something he’d been itching to for a while. “Have you thought any more about what Optimus said?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie stilled, then turned suspicious eyes on her friend. “No… Why?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He shrugged innocently. “Nothing. I just think it’s not a bad idea, after all.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I’m not going on t.v. again.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I’m not saying you have to!” His face was almost comical in his attempt to look innocent. “But… it seems like it could be really helpful-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“-why? So we can make more of a spectacle of ourselves? The Autobots don’t need any more pressure than they’ve already got. Maybe… If we just wait long enough it might blow over?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Yeah. Right. Memo was glaring at her now, and she could hardly blame him. She hid her guilt in another bite of bland lasagna and tried to ignore him. Of course, irrefutable proof of extraterrestrial life was just going to ‘go away’ if she waited long enough._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Sure. And Ratchet will let her borrow his medbay._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“You know that’s not gonna happen.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“But…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“No!” Memo slammed his fist on the table lightly. Too lightly to be loud but hard enough to catch her attention. “Charlie, dude, what’s really wrong with the idea? We go on camera for a minute, we reassure everyone that the Autobots are the good guys, then we go home and watch Jazz try to get Conan to do tricks.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie bristled back at him. “Do you hear yourself? That’s not just a small thing! It’s first contact on a planet-wide basis, and that shouldn’t be on our shoulders!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Neither of us knows the first thing about diplomacy, or media, o-or… anything! It’s bad enough they caught us on tape the first time - why should we invite a second?!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Her breath hitched awkwardly and she turned back to her plate resolutely. She tried to ignore her shoulders shaking. “I just can’t do it, Memo.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Her friend said nothing, and they sat in silence again. Then, a warm hand came to rest on her shoulder. She peaked out of the corner of ehr eye to see Memo’s worried face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“But... “ He started softly. “You know that’s exactly why we should do it, right?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“What?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He squeezed her shoulder gently and frowned, trying to think of the words. “We’re the ones they saw with Bumblebee, so, we’re also the two people who need to be there. How would it look if we didn’t show? Just going by the governments’ word? They’d think we were murdered in a coverup!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie pursed her lips as she thought. Clearly, Memo had put some thought into this. Slowly but surely, his confidence was starting to scratch away at her stubbornness._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“It probably wouldn’t even be that big of a deal, okay?” He continued. “Just hi and bye, to get it over and done with. All they’d need was to see us, hear us vouch for the Autobots, then someone else can take care of the rest.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“...Are you sure?” Charlie asked quietly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Of course!” Memo grinned, shook her shoulder and stood from his seat. “We don’t need to sweat a thing.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________And so it was that barely a few days later, the two teenagers found themselves in the center of The Pie staring up at Optimus as he finished his briefing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“-and I think it would be prudent to invite ambassadors of other nations to meet with us. Albeit perhaps at a later date.” His sonorous voice rumbled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“It’s not a terrible idea,” Agent Burns cut in, scribbling in a notebook as he spoke. “But it’d certainly take some string pulling. What’s next to go over?” he looked out over the small crowd in front of him of the most senior members of the base and the Autobots forming a semi circle behind them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Charlie tugged nervously at her shirt sleeves._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Burns checked his notes. “Ah, okay. The photographer should be here soon, so we’ll need you two-” he pointed his pen at Charlie and Memo, “To come with me, as well as….”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He paused. Then looked up at the assembled Autobots. “Uh, not to be rude, but I don’t think you’ll all fit in the shot.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Optimus rumbled a laugh that sent vibrations running through the air. “Not to worry, Agent Burns. A smaller number is indeed wise.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The man nodded, but looked no less relieved. “Okay, well. So who then?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Shouldn’t it be Optimus?” Memo leant over to whisper to Charlie. “He’s the leader after all. Plus, you know, he’d give a really cool first impression.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Unfortunately it is not that simple, Mr Guitierrez.” They both jumped. Optimus smiled gently at them, but he addressed the rest of the small crowd. Curse those excellent audio receptors._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Jazz nodded. “We shouldn’t risk the media falling into Decepticon servos. No traceable media at least. Dignitaries and ambassadors meeting us I could dig, but no digi trail the ‘cons could track.” The spy mech thought for a moment. “But then again, it is _’screamer _, so maybe we’d be alright.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“No.” Agent Burns sighed. “We can’t risk it. We shouldn’t give up any knowledge the Decepticons don’t already have, including who they're up against.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie’s stomach sunk. This was already becoming way more difficult than she’d hoped, and every second they spent here she was itching to leave._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“They’ve seen me before. I fought the ‘cons, and the public got tape of me.” Bumblebee stepped forwards, and Charlie immediately felt a confusing wash of relief and even greater anxiety. He paused for a second to smile in her and Memo’s direction, before addressing Burns once more. “It makes sense.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________And it did. It was the logical conclusion all along, and to the human girl that was a comforting fact. Plus, of all the Autobots, Bumblebee _was _the ‘cutest’. Yellow, with a round frame and bright cheerful optics - he was by far the least threatening from a purely aesthetic point of view. To the masses, he’d probably look a lot less alien than the others too.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Charlie could pretend that that was why she felt relieved, and not just because having her friend there would make it feel better._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________The agent shook his head with a grin. “Jesus man, it's just a photo op not an execution, no need to be so dramatic. Prime, are you still planning to make a speech?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“I am.” he rumbled. “Jazz will encrypt it and make my voice unrecognizable, but I will speak to your people.” The large blue and red mech nodded at Jazz, who nodded back. His optics glazed over as if already searching for the perfect algorithm to hide his leader’s voice._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________[KSKLK] - people of Earth - [SZKXKL] ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________[SZKSK] - my kind has come here from far away, we have travelled for many years. We did not know what we would find when we arrived, but your world exceeded our wildest recharge fluxes - [FSHSK] ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________[FHSJCK] - it is beautiful - [SCHZ] ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________[FSHSXH] - on our own planet, we were guardians. Protectors. It is in our core coding to safeguard that which is precious. And so I make this promise, on behalf of all Autobots, we will protect your planet with our last exvent - [FKSSLK] ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________[ASKKSL] - but we are not alone. There are others. Those who do not share our spark. They would try to harm us, to harm you. Terror and destruction live in their name and everything they touch crumbles, if not pushed back. I am truly sorry that our war has found its way here. [SSSCHK] ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________________[FSLCK] - the United States government has agreed to work with us, and together we will do all in our power to eliminate that threat. We will fight. With every invent we take we will battle to defeat that which threatens the right of all sentient beings - [KSKSCK] ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________________[SSKCK] - we did not mean for you to find us under such circumstances, and we do not mean to frighten you. We come in peace - [FKSKSCk] ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________________[SCZLK] - Till all are one. - [FFSKK] ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________Charlie’s breath caught in her throat and her skin tingled. It felt like her knees were made of jelly - and going to give out any second._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________Memo stood beside her, and behind them crouched Bumblebee. The scout whirred a concerned little tune and touched the top of her head gently._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________She tried to smile back at him but couldn’t quite make it. Clearly, her mouth muscles didn’t perform well under stress, because she could feel them wobbling._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________The scout's optics softened and he leaned in slightly. “You okay?” he asked in a low voice._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________His engine filled the air with a soft purring sound, and the warmth of his digits on her head was comforting. She nodded back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________Memo grabbed her hand and held her fingers firmly, and she was grateful for the grounding feeling. “Just hi and bye, remember?” he said with a grin._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________Finally Charlie trusted herself to speak. “O-of course. Get it over with.” Just a photo. One and done, then she could go back to reading the vehicle maintenance manuals she’d stolen from storage and move on._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________She turned back to face the large tripod camera across the room and the man behind it fiddling with the dials. When he’d finished, he straightened and tilted the camera to face them. “Ready?” he asked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________Memo agreed for them, and the servo resting on her disappeared. For a moment she missed the weight of it, before the flash filled the room with white._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________A box slammed down onto Shockwave’s workbench, and sent his carefully organised tools skittering to the side. The purple mech deactivated his welder and looked up slowly. His singular yellow optic zoomed in and out._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________Starscream stood in front of him, his frame stiff and wings held high. He picked at the paint on his servos idly and deliberately avoided the scientist’s gaze. “There,” he said with a haughty sniff._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________Shockwave’s helm tilted slightly to the side, but he brought his attention back to the box that had been so rudely thrown on his desk. With his one servo hand he lifted the lid of the box. Inside, nestled amongst a pile of soft mesh scrapings was a large purple glowing crystal._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________The light from the crystal pulsed slowly, as if syncing itself to the pulse of Shockwave's own spark. He raised his digits to the crystals’ surface, even as his processor began calculating a million different ways to test and experiment on it-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________-a blue servo slapped his away. Starscream leant over the table, his digits curled protectively over the energon and his wings flared out threateningly. “Let me make something clear,” the seeker’s field swirled around him. “You’re on my ship, under my command.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________“You may be one of Megatron’s _favourites _,” he spat the word like it was contaminated. “But I’m his second in command. Anything you figure out, anything you test, it comes through me first. Got it?”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________Shockwave stared back at him dispassionately. His one optic never blinking or breaking the gaze. Despite deleting his emotional subroutines long ago, he’d still never liked the brazen seeker. But, it was illogical to not fully and impartially weigh and opportunity when it presented itself._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________Finally, he inclined his helm slightly. “I report to Megatron, not you. However,” he looked back to the energon, caged beneath Starscream’s servo. “I will need to have quantifiable data to report at all. Until that time, I will wait.’_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________For all his posturing, Starscream’s frame sagged a little in relief. With some snarky reply he left, but Shockwave’s attention was entirely focused on the energon the second the seeker released it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________He picked up the crystal, watching the sterile labradory lights play off the panes in the rock. Let the commander think he was agreeable. Let him believe he had the upper hand. Shockwave’s loyalty was always to his own best interests, for the sake of his purpose, and that only rarely aligned with Starscreams._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________But when it did - he made a mental note in his database to request an equipment upgrade next time he called Cybertron - that alignment could only last so long._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bumblebee is the cutest Autobot, there's a reason he's the qoute-unqoute "kid appeal" character (BECAUSE HE'S ADORABLE)
> 
> also for some reason i can't get the snippets of Prime's speech to be in italics, and i dont wanna risk effing up the entire chapter's layout soooooo


	14. Buying Time to Think

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooooooww i wrote a bunch of stuff, posted it, and close the tab halfway through the new chapter loading. RIP 
> 
> ANYWAY hope you're having a cool day/night. I've just started uni and im excited and nervous, and its kinda thrown me for a little bit of a loop.

So it turned out, being a kid staying at a military base was way less interesting than you’d think. 

After you’d lapped the base the first 20 times, there's only so much you can see. Only so much you’re allowed to see, and not hidden away in restricted areas. The same grey walls, grey linoleum. Grey concrete. Even the base's poor excuse for a rec room got boring after a while. 

And Charlie had put up with it for way too long. 

Her body itched to do something. What? She wasn’t sure, but her subconscious was certainly insistent, much to her annoyance. The blankets underneath her crinkled as she sighed.

Charlie rolled over onto her back and stared at her bedroom ceiling. It was grey and uninspiring. 

After the initial rush of escaping, fighting the Decepticon’s, meeting the Autobots, the days following had seemed exciting. But surprisingly quickly, the rush had worn off and she was left with nothing to do. 

If she was still at home, she’d probably just have finished lunch by now. If Otis was there, he’d be bugging her to help set up their old VCR, or begging her to help him hide whatever new thing he’d broken this time. She huffed a small laugh. They had to hide things where Ron couldn’t find them either. He was a nice guy, and he’d started to grow on Charlie, but he was a horrible snitch when it came to their mom. 

Her mom would be sipping coffee and pointing out interesting articles in the newspaper as she read them. Her reading glasses slipping down her nose as she smiled over at Charlie. Beside her would sit a small pile of papers they’d been working through together. Scholarship applications, applying for dorms, or going over her college timetable. Stuff that made Charlie’s head hurt, but her mom was determined to help her with. 

Charlie sighed heavily. Heat prickled in the corners of her eyes, before she wiped it away roughly. 

On the bedside table sat a small pile of things she’d… borrowed from around the base. Things no one would miss, but a small pile of stuff nonetheless. Magazines she’d snagged from the mess hall, and a couple old vehicle maintenance booklets swiped from the hangar. The maintenance was outdated, for older models than many of the jeeps Charlie had seen on base so far, but something to read nonetheless. 

If she squinted her eyes, and didn’t think about it too hard, she could almost pretend she was back at home. Maybe studying for one of her classes at college before the term started. It was a bittersweet thought, since she’d probably never get to go now. All that time doing paperwork wasted.

And now… she didn’t really know where to go from here. 

The boring grey ceiling glared down at her, and Charlie glared back. 

When she wasn’t hanging out with Bumblebee, the most interesting thing she’d seen since arriving was Ratchet’s medbay. At least it was more familiar to her than anything else here. Sort of like a mechanic’s shop but with more… alien thingies strewn about the place. Something in her chest tightened, and she pushed herself up off the bedspread. Charlie tore her gaze away from the ceiling as determination hardened. 

If she was stuck here, and her future was sunk anyway, she might as well make the best of it. She couldn’t study or go to college like she’d planned, but she was stubborn, and boredom was one hell of a motivator. 

And she’d start by getting into Ratchet’s medibay.

The first time, she barely made it through the front doors before she was kicked back out again. Ratchet picked her up by the shoulders and deposited her back outside like a stray cat before slamming the doors in her face. 

The second time, she managed to stick around for a whole half a minute, before she was booted out again. 

Attempt 3: Kicked out.

Attempt 4: A huge box was pushed into the doorway so it wouldn’t open.

Attempt 5: Unceremoniously dumped at Bumblebee’s pedes with an exasperated “Keep your human out from under my plating.”  
Attempt 6: (Immediately bullying Bumblebee into driving her right back to the medibay)

Attempt 7: Shooed away.

Attempt 8: The wires to the automatic entry doors cut so they wouldn’t sense her.

She kept trying, day after day. Attempt 10, 12, 15 passed quickly. Each time, the glamour of the inside called to her from just out of reach. And each time she balled her fists up and resolved to try again. 

Eventually, Ratchet got sick of leaving his workstation to kick her out, and he only yelled at her before deciding to ignore her presence. Charlie took this as a win, and crept inside a little further. 

She started at the door. Leaning against the wall for a few hours - just watching Ratchet work. Tinkering with whatever medicine or equipment he needed for the day. High up on his desk and out of her view, but she thought it a good first step. From that angle, she could really only watch the mech himself as he resolutely ignored her.

The next time, she came a little closer. Quietly climbing onto a stack of crates in the corner was difficult, but she managed it. Ratchet growled every time her footing slipped, but miraculously didn’t throw her out.

She made a game of it. Trying to see if she recognised any of the tools he used, and if not, see if she could guess what they would do. It was a very difficult game, since a lot of the stuff Ratchet used look straight out of a sci fi comic. The first time his fingers themselves split apart into tiny tools, Charlie almost yelped in surprise. That was certainly something new. 

It was something she’d missed, she realised. The smell of oil in the air, the bright flash of welding sparks. Something she’d been yearning for and hadn’t realised until she found it again. 

She carved out a little space for herself, waiting in the corner of the medibay. Patiently watching everything she could, and trying to absorb as much of it as she was able. Which admittedly wasn’t that much, but the thrill it gave her was delicious. A hum in her chest pushing her to learn as much as possible, and she rushed to scribble what she saw down in her notebook.  
Drawings of parts and tools, guesstimates as to what they did, notes and questions circled twice in red pen in the hope that maybe someday she could get back to them. 

Ratchet ignored her. When other Autobots came in they gave her weird looks, but eventually they too got used to it. Soon enough, they’d smile at Charlie like she was a part of the medibay that had always been there. Still, she never dared talk. 

She was sitting on the stack of crates writing furiously in her little notebook, when a large hand slammed down on the metal beside her.

Charlie jumped and looked up at the imposing figure of the medic as he loomed over her. His faceplate was dark, with that permanent frown still carved deep into his features. A low rumble filled the air as he growled his engine. Charlie glared back defiantly at the implied threat. 

Ratchet exvented heavily, and leaned back. He cleared his vocaliser roughly. “If you’re gonna be cluttering up my medibay every shift, you might as well make yourself useful.”

He lifted his hand, and the clank of metal on metal caught Charlie’s attention. Ratchet had dumped a large box of oversized socket wrenches beside her. Her brow furrowed in confusion, and she whipped her gaze back to the medic, but Ratchet was already stomping away. 

“What-”

“-I want them organised by size, and polished till they shine,” Ratchet grumbled as he turned his back to her and settled down at his work bench once again. He flicked a hand dismissively over his shoulder. “There’s a rag in the bottom. I hope that’s not too _complicated _for you to figure out.”__

__

__And so it went._ _

__Charlie was given grunt work around the medibay. Polishing, organising, sorting anything that wasn’t too big for her to handle. Ratchet would order her to do something and she’d do it without complaint, and without thanks for her efforts. The most she ever got was a huff when she reported a finished task, but she was slowly learning that that was the most anyone ever got out of him._ _

__So she did tasks, and she ran errands, and that was how she found herself almost becoming Ratchet’s gopher after a few days. And that, in turn, was how she found herself at the doors to Brainstorm’s lab with a grocery list._ _

__x-x-x_ _

__

__The lab was in a separate building outside of the main complex, plopped down a little way away from the training hangar and opposite a large expanse of desert operating as a munitions range. The distant sound of gunshots peppered the air, and Charle stomped down a shiver._ _

__She shifted the empty box in her arms and rapped sharply on the door. The knock echoed, and for a minute nothing happened, until there was the sound of a muffled crash and a startled yelp from inside._ _

__Without warning, the doors swung open and Charlie was greeted by a very unexpected sight._ _

__The lab itself looked like something straight out of a mad scientist’s wet dream, and a hoarder's paradise. Inside was a giant room with benches scattered about, and every available surface covered in clutter. Microscopes, burners, distillery equipment, anything under the sun pile haphazardly around. Loose leafs of paper blew along the ground and vats of chemicals bubbled ominously. It was a maze of hanging wires and pipes, with more than a few black stains on the walls where experiments had apparently gone… not so favourably. But the most confusing thing of all was the cyan mech hanging suspended upside down from the ceiling._ _

__Brainstorm swung from side to side, still holding a remote control outstretched in one hand whilst the other frantically grabbed for the stack of datapads wobbling dangerously on the edge of the table. Without looking her way, the mech flicked his winglets._ _

__“Arcee! I told you Prime won’t let me add any more combustion to your swords- ah!” He cursed as he swung away. His fingers just missed the edge of the datapads, and the stack teetered dangerously._ _

__Charlie dropped her box to the floor with a clatter and rushed forwards. She didn’t hear the scientists startled yelp as she ducked under his swinging helm. The datapads came tumbling down just as she shot underneath them. The stack hit her chest with an oof, and she curled her arms around them instinctively._ _

__The human girl swayed for a sec under the new weight, and almost fell as well if not for the steadying digit against her back. Charlie took a moment to suck in a breath, and readjusted the datapads in her grip. She glanced back up and met the scientist's optics._ _

__“You’re not Arcee.” He said accusingly, and tried to scowl. The effect was somewhat ruined by the fact he was still spinning slightly in the air and had to twist comically to keep eye contact._ _

__Charlie laughed. “No, but I'm flattered you thought I was.” She tilted her head at the datapads in her grip. “These go back on the table?”_ _

__Like a wire lit under his plating, Brainstorm came to life. Before Charlie could react, his digits closed around her and she found herself being lifted into the air. She barely managed to squeak before she was dumped roughly on the table. Brainstorm’s faceplate close to hers, his optics beneath his facemask crinkled into a giddy smile. “Yes! Thank you! Are you here to help with my experiment? I haven’t had a volunteer in ages, and I just know this next thing is going to blow everyone away!”_ _

__Charlie’s head spun, and her arms ached where he’d grabbed her. She frowned and opened her mouth to interject-_ _

__“-Of course not literally. But, well, maybe literally! Who knows? Either way, it’ll be a feat of pure genius-”_ _

__“Excuse me!”_ _

__“Of course, everything I make is a feat of pure genius, but this one-”_ _

__“EXCUSE ME!” Charlie stomped her foot, just hard enough to finally get the mech’s attention. “I’m just here for some supplies Ratchet needs. Do you have them?”_ _

__“Oh.” The mech visibly deflated. “Yeah, sure, of course. I’ll go get them. Just as soon as I get out of this…” Brainstorm tugged at the restraints of his harness, which creaked ominously._ _

__Charlie watched the metal as it seemed to buckle slightly. “Er… That doesn’t look completely safe.”_ _

__“It’s fine, I assure you. All the best scientists do it, I just gotta-” The harness clicked, and the metal it was made of snapped completely, dropping the mech straight to the floor with a loud clang. Charlie winced, and was immediately glad she was safely up on the lab bench._ _

__Brainstorm sat up, rubbing his helm with a groan. “Pit-damn organic planet materials,” he grumbled._ _

__“You okay?”_ _

__“Ugh, yes. I’m perfect! Why wouldn’t I be?” He stood up with a flourish and switched back on that easy grin._ _

__Charlie raised an eyebrow. Uh huh. “So…” she started. She gestured down at the remains fo the harness. “Can I ask why…?”_ _

__“Mainly because nobody else can!” Brainstorm said, practically preening under the self-praise._ _

__“I thought you said all the best scientists do it?” Her eyebrow was becoming almost painfully high._ _

__“All the best scientists do it, I’m the best scientist this side of the Magellenic cloud, ergo!” He turned around and started to rifle through the chaos of things on his desk. “So, you’re here for Ratchet?”_ _

__Charlie laughed in disbelief under her breath and shook her head lightly. This mech seemed like a character. She pulled out the folded piece of paper from her pocket, where she’d hurriedly written down the things the medic had yelled at her. She read off the list and Brainstorm nodded as he walked away, ducking into a small alcove off the main lab filled with shelves for storage._ _

__Once she’d finished reading, the lab filled with the sounds of rummaging materials and clinking of glass, along with constant muttering. Charlie, unsure exactly what to do now, opted to sit down on the edge of the table and wait._ _

__

__Not too long after that, the silence was broken yet again._ _

__

__“So, why are you picking up stuff for Ratchet? He usually just sends grunts. Which is fine, but they’re not much for conversation. Usually too scared to even come in the door.”_ _

__Charlie kicked her legs idly. “I’ve just annoyed him enough he’ll give me any task to get rid of me for a bit. And doing his chores list at the same time.”_ _

__“Huh. Weird. Though I must say, I don’t mind the change.” Brainstorm stuck his helm out the doorway. “It’s nice to meet a new human.”_ _

__“We’ve met before.” Charlie tried to stifle a smile worming its way onto her cheeks._ _

__“We have? So sorry, I’m not good with faces and you have to admit, you organics all look kinda similar.” Charlie caught a quiet, “Maybe I could make something to change that,” under the teal mech’s breath._ _

__“When Bumblebee came back from scouting the Nemesis, he brought me with him. Optimus introduced us in the hangar when we arrived, though you did seem a little out of it.” Charlie reminded him._ _

__“Right!” Brainstorm returned enthusiastically. “And not out of it, into it. Very ‘into it’ you might say when I get in the zone with my calculations. But I remember you now! Charles, right?”_ _

__“Charlie,” she corrected._ _

__“Charlie, Charles, okay. Those sound like the same name to me, but okay!” There was a clatter of metal hitting the floor, and Brainstorm rounded the corner carrying a small pile of odds and ends. “Here’s the thingymabobs you need!”_ _

__The human girl stood, and raised an eyebrow as he dumped them on the desk. “ _Thingymabobs _?”___ _

____“A highly scientific term.”_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____She stifled a laugh and leant over the small pile. Pieces and parts she had no hope of recognising, but she could at least act like she knew what she was doing. Although, there was also the issue of having to carry it back._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Charlie looked around for some solution, and there was certainly no shortage of things to see. Besides the clutter of tools and chemicals, files and papers on the desks themselves, the workbenches were covered with half-finished projects and schematics for even more pinned to the walls._ _ _ _

____On the wall hung a half dissected gun of some sort, but with three barrels instead of the usual one. Beside it, wires ran from an overcrowded socket straight into a bubbling flask of multicoloured liquid that steamed slightly. Across from _that _was a huge semicircle of scrapped together metal taking up one entire wall. Steel and patches of metal pieced together like some kind of sci fi jigsaw puzzle, with a ton of wires and screens coming off of it. One side sparked ominously. Charlie didn’t know much about alien technology, but she resolved to stay well away from that thing. If something screamed radiation poisoning, that was it, and she wasn’t particularly tempted to take the risk.___ _ _ _

______Her wandering gaze did not escape Brainstorm’s notice. The mech hovered over her, his optics bright. “Do you like it?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______The question blindsided her for a moment, and she blinked back at him. She looked back at the supplies, and the room around them. “Uh… Yeah?” she ventured, hoping that was the right answer._ _ _ _ _ _

______Apparently it was, because the mech’s face lit up with an obvious smile behind his mask. “Good! I’ve worked hard to carve out this little slice of intellectual heaven, even with the lack of tech and materials on your little planet. Uh, no offense.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“None taken.” Charlie assured. “Is it really that bad?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Ugh! Don’t get me started!” Brainstorm gestured wildly and Charlie had to duck quickly to avoid getting brained by a flailing servo. “We crashland here, those of us lucky enough to have pods get a few tools or weapons with us, and we’re stranded with no way to leave and virtually nothing to work with!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______He paused for a moment. “I mean, come on! We were on top of actual-swear-to-Primus energon this whole time and we didn’t even have the scanner technology to know about it! Testing the sample we _do _have is proving hard enough.”___ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I’m, uh,” Charlie wasn’t really sure what to say. “I’m sorry to hear that.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Brainstorm gave an overexaggerated sigh, ‘Thank you. Your sympathy really means a lot to my suffering spark. Now, are those supplies about right?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The human girl glanced down at the pile of stuff at her feet, which she could barely make head nor tail of. “Yep.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Wonderful!” Brainstorm crowed and spun in a little twirl on his heel. “I’m glad! Hopefully Ratchet won’t put you through a wall if I forgot anything.’_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie smiled weakly. “Has he done that before?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“He’s certainly tried! Although it’s a little more difficult when you’re made of metal, and don’t have a phase shifter handy.” The scientist replied earnestly, which really only added to the strangeness of the situation._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Oooookay. Well, thank you for your help.” Charlie picked up everything, and with a little jiggling it stayed in her arms. “But I’d like to stay on this side of the material plane, so I’d better get going.”  
She edged closer to the side of the table. Unfortunately, it was just high enough she couldn’t quite jump. Not when carrying things. Hip height on the Autobots meant taller than her standing up, so whilst she could’ve climbed up if she’d wanted, getting down was now a problem. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Brainstorm seemed to notice her hesitation, and he smacked his helm lightly. “Oh! Of course!” He reached out to grab her and Charlie flinched away._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She wobbled to catch her balance and glared at the offending hand. Her shoulders still ached slightly where he’d grabbed her earlier. “Okay, I let this slide before because you clearly don’t know any better - but rule number one of human interaction: You can’t just snatch us up without warning. Or asking, for that matter.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The scientist froze, then withdrew his hand like she’d burned him. His winglets drooped sadly and he ducked his helm. “...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to distress you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“No, it's,” She sighed. “It’s okay. Just, a note for the future, alright?” She looked out over the edge of the table to the floor. “But, um, if you don’t mind. Could I get a hand down from here?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Brainstorm gently lifted her down from the table, and she rescued her discarded box from the floor and dumped the things she was carrying into it. As she did so, pedes shuffled nervously behind her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________When she stood, she found Brainstorm kneeling across from her. “I get the feeling I didn’t make the best impression, and I know it technically wasn’t our first meeting but, would you like to start over? I rarely get visitors, and if you’re going to be coming by often…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie stepped forward and grabbed his servo on her own. His digits engulfed her own, but she clasped it firmly regardless. “Sure. Hi, I’m Charlie. Nice to meet you.” She said with a smile._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The teal mech smiled back and his winglets danced up happily. “Brainstorm. Autobot scientist, weapons engineer, specialist expert, expert specialist, and pleased to meet you too.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“So how’d it go?” Bumblebee asked as he shook out his plating. He held the hose up to his chassis and let the water rinse off the dust coating his grill._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Charlie sat on the ground beside Memo. Conan pulled at the scrap of rope in her hands, and she tugged back playfully. The little dog growled and she laughed. “Okay. Brainstorm seems weird - but harmless.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Bumblebee cringed at ‘harmless’ but let it slide. “The mech _himself _might be, but the things he makes are not. And Ratchet?”|___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I’m wearing him down. Soon, he might even let me talk enough to ask a question.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“That’s good!” Memo chirped, shading his eyes against the afternoon sun. “Chip’s been having me intern with him, which is mostly just sorting files. But, he says he might have time to teach me some coding soon.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie elbowed him with a grin. “That’s awesome dude! Maybe soon you’ll be the one running comms!” she teased._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Memo elbowed her back and they both laughed. Bumblebee buzzed a chuckle as well as he tried to work the stream of water between his transformation seams. He flared his plating futilely to try and get in the cracks._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Charlie stood up and walked over to him, blinking in the harsh light. She offered up a palm. “Need a hand?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bumblebee gratefully passed her the hose and she beckoned for him to crouch down. Slowly, she circled him with the spray as Memo gently pulled Conan out of her path._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Ugh.” She grunted as some more stubborn sand stuck to the underside of his back kibble. “Where were you guys, a dirt bath? I’ve never seen so much grit caught on a car’s panelling - no offense Bumblebee.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The scout leaned into the spray, enjoying the refreshing wash of it over his plating. It was a welcome cool feeling after driving in the heat of the day. “Heh, none taken. Our patrol was wider than usual, Optimus wants us scouting further out for Decepticon activity than before - and a few dusty roads is the price to pay.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You’d think they could sort that out themselves,” Memo chimed in from the ground. “Track the Decepticon signals or whatever. Surely they’re not hiding that well? That ship was massive!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The boy yelped and threw himself to the side quickly, narrowly avoiding a blast of water from the hose. Charlie laughed at his face and drew the spray threateningly close again. “Dumbass. They’re cloaked, remember? If you’re so opinionated about it, why don’t _you _do something?”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________They stared at each other for a moment, both teens holding each other’s gaze resolutely. Before they fell into giggles._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Yeah, right. I’ll just go pick up my jetpack from Brainstorm and buzz on up there,” Memo teased. “ _Excuse me Mr ‘Con, but see, my friends down there would really like to catch you. Would you mind using this glow in the dark paint and painting a target on your hull? Cheers! _” He mimed throwing a bucket at Charlie’s face, and she ducked away laughing. The hose in her grip swung wildly and sprayed a huge arc over all of them, sending the two humans squealing. Conan barked and jumped up to try and catch the water in his mouth.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________The water slashed against Bumblebee’s faceplates and the scout jumped a little in surprise. He shielded his optics with one servo and with the other grabbed Charlie’s shoulder to hold her still._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie stopped squirming and wrangled the hose back down, her sides hurting and just a little breathless. “S-sorry ‘Bee!” she said with a grin._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Bumblebee shook his head ruefully and buzzed a laugh. “It’s fine.” With the digits of his free servo he wiped the water from his optics and smiled back down at his human friends. “But be carefull, that’s a powerful weapon in the wrong hands.” He dipped his voice lower, and tried to synthesise it as ominous and grave. Judging by Memo’s increased laughter he wasn’t that successful._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie however, had turned to look at him fully. Her optic ridge raised slightly and a contemplative look on her face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Why do you do that?” she asked. A smile still tugged at the corner of her mouth._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Bumblebee reset his optics once, and tilted his head to the side. “Why do I do… bad impressions?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“No silly!” she swatted at his servo playfully, then gestured to her throat. “That voice thing! The beeping, uh, buzzing thing? When you laugh, or sometimes when you’re surprised… Why do you do that?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Memo sat up from where he lay on the ground and tapped his finger on his chin. “Huh, yeah! That’s not a bad question.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“What? I, uh… hadn’t noticed.” Bumblebee felt over the edge of his own throat cabling, and the vocaliser hidden there. The weld marks still felt raised to his digits, despite having been there for a decent chunk of time now._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Suddenly, Charlie was right in front of him. A frown creasing her brows. “It’s not your vocaliser playing up again is it? Maybe I missed something…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Bumblebee gently pushed down her hand that was rising to his throat. “No, I’d know if there was something wrong with one of my systems, and there’s not. You did a great job on it, Charlie.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie looked relieved and nodded. “You did it a lot when we first met, but I assumed it was because you couldn’t talk. As a substitute, it worked pretty well in telling me what you wanted.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Yeah!” Bumblebee buzzed an excited little trill, then looked down at the others sheepishly. “Guess I just forgot to stop doing it? I’ll try to purge those code sequences when I go to medbay next-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“No!” Memo jumped up. “Dude! Why would you do that?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“He’s right,” Charlie added. “You don’t have to do that! It’s harmless after all. Plus, it makes your laugh sound adorable.” She smiled warmly up at him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Bumblebee’s spark spun faster in his chassis at that. Being a scout and a soldier, he certainly wasn’t used to being called adorable. At least, not in a complimentary way. He chuckled lightly at the thought, and felt his faceplates heat up as Charlie’s smile turned into a grin._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Memo threw back his head and cackled at the scout’s expense. “Absolutely! So don’t stop on our account. Think of it as nostalgia!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________This time, the teenage boy wasn’t fast enough to dodge the spray of water coming his way and he stumbled back cursing. Charlie cackled at his floundering. Conan barked loudly and jumped up to bite at the water._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________When the little dog finally got tired of dancing on his hindlegs, Charlie turned off the hose and shook out the cramp that had settled in her arm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Bumblebee shifted and stood. He positioned himself so that the sun hit his plating but cast shadow down on his human friends. That amused him inwardly. He wasn’t used to being a sunshade for anyone, let alone those smaller than him. Although, the grateful sighs from the two humans made him think he didn’t mind the feeling._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“When’s your next patrol, ‘Bee?” Memo asked. He tried to wring out the edges of his shirt._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________The scout hummed and checked his internal chronometer. “Not for another joor- uh, an hour. Why?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Memo groaned. “Ugh, just wondering how much longer we have to kill time for. There’s only so much you can do out in this desert.” He threw his arm wide and gestured out of the base and the rocky sand beyond it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie followed his gaze, and didn’t hide the evil smile that crept onto her face. “I might have an idea, but we’re gonna undo all of Bumblebee’s hard work on cleaning.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Are you sure about this?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“C’mon, Bee! You love racing!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Still…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Jazz revved his engine, and Memo waved from his seat. Charlie flipped him off through Bumblebee’s window and laughed as the boy exaggerated a gasp. She turned back to the dash and raised one eyebrow. “What, are you scared?” she teased._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“No!” Bumblebee mentally rolled his optics. “I could beat him easily.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Could’ja, big bot?” Jazz twisted his wheels in the sand back and forth. The sound grated against Bumblebee’s audials. It was a miracle the other mech had had a spare moment to come out here, or agreed at all. But apparently Charlie was very persuasive, as he was finding out right now._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Jazz revved his engine again, louder. “Gotta prove it before ya can talk smack like that,” he said. Despite lacking a face, the playfully mocking grin dripped from his voice._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie raised one eyebrow at the dash._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Bumblebee gunned his engine “Fine, but don’t try and pull rank when you lose.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Jazz and Memo whooped loudly and took off in a burst of speed and a cloud of dust. Charlie and Bumblebee spluttered for a second, before the kicked his engine into gear and they shot forward. Charlie whooped as they raced forward and gripped the steering wheel hard. Her enthusiasm was infectious and Bumblebee honked his horn in response._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________They tore across the desert, eating up the sand and spitting it out behind them. Charlie leaned forward in her seat and yelled encouragement that were stolen by the wind through his open windows. Bumblebee pushed his engine harder and they came up alongside Jazz and Memo._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Memo was jeering at them from inside Jazz’s cab and Jazz flashed his lights at them. The wind and the speed wiped the rest of the world away until it was just tires on sand, grit against the windshield and the mech racing beside him. Far above them, the edge of the holo shield blocked the sun and they raced into its shadow._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Jazz suddenly turned hard and banked, sending a wave of sand over Bumblebee’s hood. Bumblebee growled his engine and banked as well. Jazz honked cheerfully._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie beamed down at his dash and her grip on his wheel tightened. “C’mon ‘Bee!” she yelled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________They weaved between huge pillars of stone that speckled the desert and the area around the base. Despite not leaving the shield, there were plenty of obstacles to avoid. Annoyance started to rise in his tanks as Jazz swerved in front of him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Bumblebee swerved right, and Jazz swerved right. He swerved left and Jazz copied him move for move. Dancing as they sped across the sands. The commander wasn’t a speedster like the racers back on Cybertron, but he was built for being fast nonetheless. His altmode being an Earth sports car notwithstanding. Bumblebee, by contrast, was smaller and his alt mode wasn’t built for speed. Then again, he thought as he pushed his engine faster than any Earth vehicle had any right going. There were perks to being an alien, since the rules of this planet didn’t apply to him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie shouted in surprise as she was pushed back into the seat. The sudden burst of speed knocking the wind out of her. For a moment, the scout paused, hoping he hadn’t hurt her, but her grin was back full force and stronger than ever._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Emboldened, Bumblebee shot forward and came up right behind Jazz’s bumper. The stones around them grew larger and rockier as they drove. Soon the rocks were closing in around them. Rising up on either side._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Sparks shot into the air as Bumblebee’s wheel wells scraped against the rock, and Charlie yelped from inside him. She glanced worriedly out the window. “Uh, Bee?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Bumblebee pushed his engine even harder, ignoring the whine. Jazz’s flashy plating beside him pushed up against his own frame and he had to swerve on his wheels to keep his position. With every yard the channel of rock narrowed further and further. “I see it,” he answered. As it was his engine was redlining. There was no way he could make it fast enough, with so little room to overtake before it became impossible. He had no other choice but to drop back and forfeit._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie’s weight shifted in his seat. Every muscle tensed as if it would physically help him drive faster. No. He’d show her and the others’ exactly what he could do!_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Charlie, do you remember the police chase?” They were running out of time, but he needed to wait for the perfect moment._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________She looked back at the dash, confused. “In Brighton Falls?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Closer. Closer. The gap narrowed and Jazz pulled ahead slightly, his spoiler already twitching in celebration_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Hold on!” Bumblebee yelled and he gunned it. His tires met the side of the rock and carried on, speeding up the side of the rock wall. Charlie yelped and gripped onto the seat for dear life as the world turned sideways._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________They hit an outcrop of rock, and it threw Bumblebee off the wall and into the air. A moment of weightlessness, looking down on the shocked face of Memo and the surprised tinge of Jazz’s EM field against his plating before they went sailing over their heads._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________They slammed down onto the dirt in front of the sports car and tore off. BUmblebee whooped loudly and CHarlie laughed so hard tears formed in the corners of her eyes. He could hear her heartbeat almost coming through her chest but the face splitting grin she was giving him was worth it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________They tore through the rock channel until it finally opened back up into the open desert. The sun hit his plating once again made the scout’s plating shine. They slowed down fractionally, settling into a less breakneck pace._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Inside, Charlie unbuckled her belt and knocked on the roof of Bumblebee’s cab. He opened it without question and she stuck her torso out. He tried to keep his driving as steady as possible for her as she threw her arms up into the wind._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________THe sound of her cheering filled the air around them, and both Bumblebee and Jazz’s horns raised to join in. Memo leaned out of one of the spy’s windows and cheered too, pumping his arm in the air with a silly grin on his face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Eventually, they slowed to a stop. The clouds of dust behind them began to settle and the two humans hopped out of the Autobots’ vehicle modes and promptly collapsed into the dirt._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Charlie whooped one last time before she flopped backwards. Carelessly smacking Memo over the head as she did so._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Bumblebee transformed and stood up, cycling his vents to try and dispel the heat coming off his frame. Between the sun and the driving, his internals needed cooling._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Jazz transformed too, and stretched languidly. His field brushed against Bumblebee’s for a moment with _fun - impressed - respect _and he flashed a toothy grin. “Not too bad for a rookie, mech. We’ll have to do it again some time. But now we should be getting back to patrol, huh?”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Bumblebee rolled his optics, but he made a move to brush off the worst of the dust that had recoated his undercarriage anyway. Ugh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Heh, I did say you’d hate it.” Charlie said, from far down on the ground. “All that hard work cleaning wasted. I owe you a proper wash when you get back.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________The scout shook his helm ruefully. True, getting dusty again was a little frustrating, but he was no Sunstreaker and the happiness in his friends’ faces was worth it. He crouched down to poke at Charlie’s shoulder playfully. ‘You’d better be keeping count of these I-owe-yous.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________She laughed, and his spark spun faster in his chassis._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Memo’s gaze glanced between the two of them. He opened his mouth, paused, then closed it again and shook himself as if dismissing what he was about to say._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________x-x-x_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Charlie made it back to her room, and slotted her keys into the door. She swung open the door and kicked off her shoes with a sigh._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Conan leapt off the couch and ran up to her, his tail wagging madly as he danced on his hind legs. She laughed and crouched down to let the little dog lick at her neck and scratched him behind the ear._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Her body ached from a long day in a series of long days in a long week, and she walked across the room and flopped onto the couch. Conan jumped up beside her and settled on her thighs. His little claws dug into her skin as he circled once, twice, before he settled down._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________She was almost asleep, when the phone started ringing loudly in its cradle across the room. Charlie groaned and debated ignoring it, before she dragged herself off the couch (much to Conan’s disdain). She snatched up the phone and held it to her ear._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________On the other end of the line, she heard the connection click and the faint sound of noises filled the receiver. Muffled voices, the sound of movement. Charlie stifled a yawn, “Hello?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________A sharp breath on the other side of the line. “Charlie?” A woman asked, her voice painfully familiar._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“...Mom?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in celebration of me finding a studio series 86 Jazz, everyone's favourite spymaster makes it into the chapter!! I didn't expect it, but he wanted in and im a simp for the groovy little man :)
> 
> welp: written in three days, unedited as all my chapters are lately. Feeling excited~~~


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